Clone Girls

Nicia walked through the hallways of Clone installation 3’s fifth floor, hurrying her pace. Many thoughts crossed her mind because of the recent events, and she had so much work to do as a result.

Saying that she was busy would be an understatement, between the Null CG Class clone girls, Nicia was the only one with the knowledge and the acknowledgement of A-4 to keep cloning operations run smoothly, and also the only one who kept an eye on her sisters' health.

Technically, Ria and Vinia could also have assisted her, but the former was busy planning their operation for tomorrow, and the latter had been put to sleep early, as it was decided that she would play an important role in said operation… As for their other sisters? Ticinia might have been helpful, but she also would play a great role tomorrow, and the others did not really have the competences to assist Nicia…

She stopped, arriving at her destination. This door led to an office, which her second sister had requisitioned as her ‘post of command’. There was only one reason why she was there, and that was to make sure her sister got some sleep.

After taking a brief respiration, she opened the door.

As expected… She’s still working… Nicia thought, seeing her older sister surrounded by a set of holographic screens. She could see Ria tapping on a holographic keyboard at an amazing speed, so focused on whatever she was doing that she did not even notice Nicia entering.

“Multitasking again, second sister?” Nicia called out, and Ria finally raised her head.

“Ah, Nicia, did they finally go to sleep?” She asked, sending a tired smile at Nicia.

“Yes.” Nicia nodded, they were referring to Ticinia and Vinia. “The twins helped me, before joining them.”

Both of their youngest sisters had protested going to bed while they still worked. The two wanted to help, but Nicia was strongly opposed to it. She pointed out to her sisters that they just woke up from a coma, and that they were technically still recuperating. Still, they were stubborn, they only ‘relented’ once the twins declared they would sleep with them.

Well technically, it was more like a kidnapping… Nicia was reminded of the scene, Miria and Tiria had quite literally dragged their younger sisters, without listening to their protest. Whether it was a good thing or not, Nicia did not know, she did feel a bit jealous though…

“That's good, I'll need them at their fullest capabilities tomorrow.” Ria said, before going back into her own work. “Then, you can join them too, now.” She said to Nicia.

“…Second sister, that should be what I say to you…” Nicia said, sighing, she knew well that Ria had already finished her tasks. The sigh made her sister look back at her questioningly.

“What do you mean? I'm just making sure everything is in order, so that we won't face too many unexpected events.”

“You sure are.” Nicia said with a sarcastic tone, whatever Ria was doing right now was nothing more than worrying over the situation.  “But you also look very tired.” She pointed out to Ria’s eyes, they were very tired.

“And so are you, Nicia.” Her sister said back, which she could not deny, she was tired, but needed to stay up.

“Indeed, I am tired, but unlike you, I cannot go to sleep yet.” She said, pointing out the responsibilities only she could complete. “Between all of us, I am the only one with the most medical knowledge. I need to stay alert in case of an incident. And there have have already been some… complications…”

“Yeah, I read your report, you're worried a same case like the one that happened with Vinia pop up?” Ria said, grimacing, and Nicia grimaced too as she nodded in affirmation. How could she not remember this event where she nearly lost her youngest sister? At that time, contrary to Ria, she did not even try to help, and was only staring at the incident with worry, she was ashamed of her past self.

“Then, let me do i-” Ria began to say, but Nicia stopped her, she knew that her sister would say that she would take on the rest of her responsibilities, and Nicia would have none of that.

“No. Second sister, I truly understand how worried you are, but we all have our roles. Mine is to make sure you are all at your best for tomorrow.” She insisted, closing in on her sister. “We need you tomorrow at your maximum, and for that, you need to sleep.”

“...Didn't you create something against fatigue?” Ria said, trying to find an alternative, but Nicia shook her head, well aware of what her sister thought.

“It's still a prototype, I wouldn't dare make you drink that.” She was lying though, her experimental concentrated coffee had been conceived with a lot of help from A-4 and in a record time, but she knew best it was not a good thing to rely on it, and she had already guessed this sister of hers would use it heavily.

“Second sister.” Nicia said with a serious tone, pushing a button on Ria's desk, which turned off all the holograms. “You've done all you could, so please take a rest, A-4 will wake you up once the time has come.”

“But…” Ria hesitated, unconvinced.

“No but! I’m the medic here!” Nicia defended, pointing to the red cross on the long, white coat she was wearing. To the cute pose she ended up making, her sister sent her a dubious look, and mumbled.

“...I don’t remember you ever getting the degree for that…”

“Nh? What was it?” Nicia replied to her sister’s mumble, a smile on her face, but her eyes were not smiling.

“N-nothing!” Ria immediately corrected herself, standing upright. Just like Ticia before, she too, could not resist Nicia when she made that face.

In the end, Nicia sighed.

“...It’s gonna be alright, Ria, we’ll save our sisters, and be reunited.” She said, sending a smile to her sister.

And I just put up a flag… She said to herself, no doubt her sister was thinking the same from her expression, but Nicia showed her determination. It’s not good to think like that, let’s just stay positive.

After a brief moment of the two staring at each other in silence, Ria sighed, and gave a wry smile at her sister.

“...Yeah, thanks, Nicia, and good night.” She said as she put a hand over Nicia’s shoulder, before leaving the room.

Now left alone in the room, Nicia sighed again. “Good grief…”

She wasn’t sure Ria would really go to sleep, knowing how she was, so she would need to keep an eye on her. For that, she called out to the AI which she had cooperated a lot with, recently.

“A-4, please send me an alert if Ria doesn’t go to sleep.”

“Confirmation: This unit will do so.
Question: In case of Null CG-02 refusing to go to sleep, what shall be the measures taken?”

The AI asked, to which Nicia closed her eyes, replying seriously.

“Then use some sleeping gas. I’ll let the dosage to you so that it only lasts a few hours.”

“Orders received.”

The AI answered, not questioning the choice. It was a radical one, which Nicia hoped would not be used, but it was necessary.

Normally, she would never have received such authority, but since she was the one who had activated the emergency through the Null codes, and in absence of an appointed supervisor by the owner, A-4 had relayed the powers of the facilities to her.

Of course, Ria knew that Nicia was the one in command, and despite the fact she was recognised as having more authority than all the other present clone girls, she still had to bow down to the rules. Besides she had acquiesced to it too, as Nicia was more knowledgeable than her on Clone installation 3’s main factories. In the end, both girls shared command, complementing each other with their skills.

Second sister might grumble a bit, but she’ll understand. Nicia thought to herself, her sister was reasonable and the most mature out of them all. Despite the fact that they had a fight recently, Ria would see the advantages of Nicia’s choices positively.

Well, it’s just a last measure anyway, for now, I should focus on my main job. She said to herself, refocusing, and left the room. Her next objective was clear: The main laboratory on the sixth floor.

After taking an elevator that led directly to that room, she went for the main screen, which lit on as she approached.

 

This was the single line projected, Nicia nodded, everything was in order for now.

“Now… Let's see the current state of my new sisters… A-4, if you please?” She asked, to which the monotone voice of the AI responded immediately.

“Orders received.”

The screen began to display other information under the previous lines.

Nicia nodded to herself, seeing the advancement. So far, everything was good. Then, the personal file of each clone was displayed.

This is where problems began for Nicia. There was a lot of information, as each ECG was unique. The peculiar state in which they had been put into production made their abilities… quite varied, to say the least…

Emergency Clone Girls, or ECG for short, was the answer A-4 had come up with in case of an emergency, but the problem was that not all genes could support such a huge accelerated growth, and would have consequences on the subjects as a result. One that A-4 had warned about for example, would be the lack of emotions those clones would show for a long period of time as a result, making them seem like machines. Fortunately, this could be dealt with with time.

The other, more worrying to Nicia, was the possibility of genetic problems, which had passed undetected under the selection process.

Fortunately, only one case seemed touched by this, which Nicia was dedicating a lot of time to.

“Show me ECG-023’s complete file.” She ordered, and the screen scanned through the one hundred files, stopping on the concerned one and displaying the data on another screen.

 

Seeing this, Nicia sighed in relief. “Good, the blindness hasn’t progressed…”

It was something that Nicia had immediately noticed as she read the reports for the first time, this one clone had unexpectedly contracted a genetic disease that caused blindness. Nicia and A-4 had reacted immediately, trying to find a solution before the disease could spread further, and the modifications they had applied to the preservation liquid had stopped the spreading.

Of course, they both knew that it was only a temporary measure, and that they would need to find another one after her awakening. But if they couldn’t do so, the only remaining option would be an optical implant, which was impossible to do with the current state of Clone installation 3.

Still, I’m glad… Nicia could not help but feel happy. She knew how important waking up for the first time had been for her and her sisters, and she did not want one of her new sisters to be deprived of one of her most important senses for such a moment. Knowing that she was the one who made this possible warmed her heart.

After checking each file meticulously for the smallest problems, Nicia was relieved to find out nothing had changed, and that all were healthy.

“Now for the biggest problem…” She said, grimacing. This one would need her to directly go to the incubation chamber.

This problem was in accordance with the material itself, Nicia was worried a problem might occur again, just like for Vinia. Her concern was even bigger as A-4 frequently reminded her of the state of the equipment, which was overheating, and degrading fast. The material was old,and no replacement pieces could currently be made, it had already broken up during this cloning phase, which was why Nicia needed to keep watch on the cloning process in the first place.

Reminded of the incident with her youngest sister, Nicia preferred to check the equipment herself, rather than trusting the scans.

The first thing she noticed once she entered the room in which the pods were, was the temperature.

“It has risen again…” She mumbled, wiping the sweat that formed on her forehead, before checking each pod with a scanner, and verifying there was no dysfunctionment.

“...Again?” She mumbled as she reached the pod of one peculiar clone girl, around the end.

How there could be more liquid without the pod exploding was a wonder to both Nicia and A-4, but they could both see the same thing: a nutrition pod that made cranking noises under the pressure and was at hotter temperatures than usual.

“Geez, why is it always this one?” Nicia asked nobody in particular, and she was not referring to the nutritional pod, she was referring to the clone…

For some reason, this clone ended up with all the problems possible. A-4 had to change the pod three times before that, and it would seem that it would have to do it again. The pod she had been in before had mysteriously started to leak, for example.

“Notice: Proceeding with the transfer of ECG-099 to a new nutrition pod.”

“Wait, let me verify her state.” Nicia said, making a quick scan with her device, the results were positive: the clone girl was alive and well.

“How is she in such a perfect state with all this?” Nicia could only say, dumbfounded. Despite all the problems, the clone girl’s growth rate was stable, in fact, it was the most advanced, already reaching 80%…

“... I don’t know whether she’s lucky or not…”

“Notification: Luck of an individual is not a calcullable factor, but this unit is certain this specific clone has no luck.”

Even A-4 agreed that the clone girl was unlucky.

“Really, I don’t understand…” Nicia scratched her head in frustration. What could she do about luck? A medic brings answers, but sometimes, I just can't do that.

“Well, I’ll leave the change to you, A-4.” Nicia said, sighing in defeat, before beginning to walk away. “I’ll go ba-whoah!?”

Nicia slipped and fell on her butt, in a puddle of sticky, green liquid…

“Eww, what is this?” She said in disgust as the liquid stuck to her.

“Answer: preservation liquid.”

“Yes, I know that.” She said back to the AI with a bit of frustration. Of course she recognized what it was, she just wondered why the ground had become such a mess.

“Geez, maybe it’s not that she has bad luck but she is a jinx?”  She stared back at ECG-099's pod, which was currently being manipulated by a drone. But when the latter raised it, her face paled as she saw what was behind the wall…

“W-wait a sec, that’s, !!!”  

Next to the wall where tubes came from, she could see a huge fissure, from where the liquid leaked into the room.

This is bad! Nicia exclaimed, getting on her feet immediately. This leak had the possibility of compromising the whole cloning process!

“A-4! Red alert! There’s a leak coming from the pump!” She exclaimed as she approached the leak, it wasn’t big for now, but the preservation liquid flowed at a rapid pace.

“Orders received, sending nearby repair units.”

The AI reacted immediately, but when Nicia reached the leak, a big creaking noise erupted, and the leak grew bigger, splashing liquid on Nicia.

“Ugh, hurry! The pump’s essential!” She yelled out, reaching the emergency tools placed nearby. Fortunately, some metal sheets were stoked there too, a drone came by, and took a metal sheet, placating it against the breached wall.

Nicia fiddled with the welder, trying to make it work. Unfortunately, she struggled a bit with those machines, repairing tools weren't her thing…

“Come on… Agh! Damn it! Where's Nia when you need her!?” She cried out as panic overtook her. Meanwhile, the metal sheet was pushed back from the pressure, the drone struggling to keep it fixed.

Nicia gave up on the welder, helping the drone keep the metal sheet in place instead. A short moment passed as the pressure only grew bigger, yet she could not stop the pump, if she did, she would condemn her new sisters to their death!

“Come on, ugh, push!” She exclaimed again to motivate herself, pushing with all her strength. Still, she could feel it wasn’t enough, and as despair began to arrive, a pair of hands suddenly overlapped with hers. “Eh?” She turned her head in surprise.  “Willia?! What are you doing here!?”

“A-4 called me.” Willia replied, a serious look on her face, which was rare, coming from Willia. “Now come on, one more push! One, two, three!”
With the help of Willia’s strength, the metal sheet was placated once again against the wall perfectly, and more drones arrived, supporting it as two others welded the metal in place.

“We, *wheeze*, we did it.” Nicia said, out of breath, she had put way too much energy on this…

“Yeah, but what just happened?” Willia, on the other hand, seemed fine, she asked her sister with worry, A-4 had just informed her to come post haste to incubating room 1.

“Oh, there was a leak we didn’t see before…” Nicia said. And it just had to be behind a pod… but for us to take so much time to notice… If not for this sister’s bad luck… 

“Maybe she’s not cursed…” She mumbled, staring at the pod of ECG-099 with wonder. It was currently undergoing transfer with another pod, and the action was delicate.

“What was that?” Willia asked after hearing her sister’s mumble.

“No, nothing.” Nicia shook her head. Now was not the time to wonder about such things, she needed to check up to see if there was any damage. “Anyway, why are you still awake?”  she asked Willia as she went for a terminal at the bottom of the room, she had told all her sisters to go to bed early, and to her knowledge, Ria had been the only one still awake.

“Oh, uhm, I was training.” Willia bashfully replied.

“...Training? At this hour?” Nicia frowned, clearly displeased. It seemed like her third sister had not followed her order…

When Willia nodded, she asked with a bit of anger in her voice. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Err, no?” Willia answered, not expecting this question.

“It’s past 4 AM in the morning, Willia, why the hell are you still awake?”

“Oh, was it that late? I didn’t notice…” Willia said, smiling awkwardly.

This stupid musclehead… Nicia thought as anger grew, but she calmed herself. No, this isn’t the time, if not for her, I might have been in even bigger trouble…

If her third sister had not rushed here, Nicia would have taken more time fixing the leak, and the consequences could have been terrible…

In the end, she sighed, and asked her sister why she was still training as she reached the terminal.

“So? Why were you still training at this hour?”

“...I couldn’t sleep.” Willia confessed. “So to change my mind, I exercised…”

“Let me guess, you couldn’t stop after that?” Nicia said, looking an instant at her sister, who nodded while letting out a small, wry laugh, which only made Nicia sigh yet again.

What is mom gonna do with such a musclehead… She wondered, yet could not find the answer, but one thing was sure though, Ticia loved Willia as her daughter for what she was, and so was it for all of them.

“But don’t worry, I’m not tired at all!” Willia continued, not getting the meaning of her sister’s gaze. Nicia truly wondered how Willia could be so dense compared to all of them…

“You know… I’m worried about tomorrow…” Willia said, changing mood again.

“We’re all worried.” Nicia replied, not paying much attention to her sister anymore, and instead looking at the status report A-4 was sending her.

“Yeah, but I’m more worried about how I will act on the battlefield, you know? With my condition…”

Those words made Nicia stop in her tracks, listening to what her sister was saying.

“...I still can’t control it, and I’m scared I’ll go crazy on the battlefield, attacking anybody who’s near me…” Willia continued, a deep, pensive expression on her face as she looked at her clenched right fist.

“That’s why.” She said, looking seriously at Nicia. “I’m training over my limits, so that I can try to control it.”

“...” Nicia looked back at her sister. She might not be as much of an idiot after all… She said to herself.

True, in all this mess, they had all forgotten about Willia’s battle frenzy. If it activated at the wrong moment, it would throw a wrench into their plans…

“...I get it.” She said to Willia. “I’ll help you control it.”

“Eh? B-but Nicia, aren’t you very busy right now?” Willia asked, not expecting this.

“I’m already overwhelmed with work, what’s the problem with taking one more?” Nicia replied sarcastically, smiling a bit, she could not let her sister’s problem alone…

As a medic, I want to solve every health problem my family has.

“...Thank you.” Willia accepted the help willingly, before frowning. “But how will you help me? You’re too weak to face me…”

“That’s where you’re wrong, third sister.” Nicia smiled as she closed the terminal, and while Willia tilted her head, she moved.

“Wha-!?” Before she knew it, Willia had been struck at various places, and although it did not hurt much, she immediately noticed something.

“My arm, it’s not moving…” She said in amazement as her right arm dangled, not moving.

“I didn’t learn medicine just to heal, dear sister~.” Nicia said with a smirk on her face, feeling somewhat pleased by the move she just did. “Don’t worry, you’ll get back the control of your arm in about three seconds.”

“Whoah, I did.” Willia exclaimed as she moved her arm again, verifying nothing changed. Then, she closed in on Nicia, stars in her eyes. “That was amazing, sister!”

“R-right?” Nicia’s smile cramped as Willia’s face was now right in front of her, she did not expect such a reaction… “B-but with that, you recognise I can help, right?”

“Yeah! Now I’m sure you can stop me if I become too excited!” Willia exclaimed, her mood now happy.

You’re already too excited… Nicia thought in her mind. Truly, despite Willia’s claims, the girl could not help herself but feel excited at the prospects of a fight…

Fortunately, no damage was done. A wave of relief washed over Nicia, they had managed to keep the damage to the minimum. Although the repair was only temporary, it would hold until the end of the growth period.

“Well, for now, let’s go somewhere where we can train without worry.” She declared to Willia. Guess I’ll have to drink some concentrated coffee in the end…

But as Willia replied happily…

*Clank*

““Eh?””

A noise startled both of them, and then A-4’s voice reverberated.

“Growth period has been confirmed to be complete for ECG-099, proceeding with opening.”

“Her again?!” Nicia exclaimed in disbelief. “No, no, before that, that’s too early! How could she have finished her growth this fast!?”

Last time she checked ECG-099 was at 80% completion, which was still way too advanced compared to the others, but not alarming. Nicia hurried over to the clone’s new pod, displaying its information, a similarly worried Willia followed behind her.

“No way…” She could not believe it, and double checked it with her scanner. The information displayed was the same, ECG-099 had completed her growth way ahead of the others.

“H-how!? That doesn’t make any sense!” Nicia nearly pulled her hair out from frustration, she could not make sense of what was happening right now.

What could be the reason for this early awakening? Was it the transfer? Or the fact that she got more doses of nutrition liquid… It still doesn’t make sense!

“S-sister! She’s waking up!” Willia’s panicked call pulled her out of her spiraled thoughts, before she had noticed, the pod had fully opened, displaying a fully grown, eighteen year old girl.

ECG-099 slowly opened her eyes, and met gaze with both Willia and Nicia. A small electric shock passed through both little girls, just like it did when they awakened. They could feel a sort of connection with ECG-099, yet at the same time, they could also feel the difference…

ECG-099 was clearly… inferior in rank to them, and would obey any order from them. Completed with her expressionless face, she looked more like a humanoid machine rather than a human to both Null class Clone Girls.

Other than that, her hair is also completely white, unlike mom or us… Nicia noticed as her gaze went over to the tip of ECG-099’s hair, which reached beyond her waist. Unconsciously, her gaze noticed something else.

…She’s as plump as mom… wait, not that! She shook her head. “Willia, go bring me some clothes!” She said as she took a medical pouch, and opened it, but froze at Willia’s answer.

“Uhm, Nicia, I don’t think we have clothes for her size…” 

“...” Crap, we completely forgot to make clothes for them, other than their armored skinsuit…

That sure was a problem, she couldn’t have them go around naked like that.

“...Just go into mom’s room and take some clothes for now…” She said after some time. Willia grimaced, unsure whether it was a good thing to take their mother’s clothes without permission, but it’s not like they had much of a choice…

I should ask A-4 to do some later…

For now, she would concentrate on ECG-099, who was trying to get up. Fortunately, to not end up in the same way she and her sisters did when they woke up, Nicia had prepared a small stimulant. She quickly injected it into the girl’s arm.

“There, you should be able to speak soon.”

“...” ECG-099 just stared back at her, no emotions ressurging, it made Nicia once again realize the differences between her clone class and this one…

Finally, ECG-099 got up, and tried to salute Nicia immediately after… only to slip on the wet ground and fall on her butt.

“...She fell…” Nicia mumbled, somewhat amazed at the clone girl who struggled to steady herself on her feet without falling again on the slipping ground. “Let me-whoah!” Nicia’s goodwill only made her join ECG-099 in her struggle to get up, both unable to stand up without slipping again.

After some time, Willia came back with a simple set of clothes. “I’m back- What are you doing?” She stared at her sister on the ground with a bewildered expression.

“Ugh, don’t just stand here, help us!” Nicia cried out, fully ashamed she could not get herself out of this problem.

“G-got it!” Willia reacted quickly, and surprisingly enough, she did not join her sisters in the puddle and managed to raise them on their feet.

After this small incident, which made Nicia grumble for a while, both Null class clone girls stood in front of ECG-099, who was now wearing a simple set of shirt and pants.

Nicia sighed. “It’s a curse, for sure…” She mumbled, before looking at the clone who was standing there, looking into the distance, into her own thoughts.

“...Well, this disastrous beginning aside.” Nicia said, her face softening, she was trying to imitate her mother when she met her for the first time. “Welcome to the world, new sister.”

“Yeah, welcome!” Willia continued, in a good mood. “I’m Null CG-03 Willia, and she’s Null CG-08 Nicia, those names were given to us by mom!”

“...Mother…” ECG-099 said as a result, recognising the meaning behind Willia’s words. Before making a salute once again, and greeting her sisters like a soldier.

“Greetings, Prime Sisters, ECG-099, ready to complete the rescue mission to help mother.”