Clone Girls

“...There's nothing left?” Ticia asked again, blinking her eyes with an incredulous look.

“Absolutely nothing!” The AI replied with a somewhat merry tone.

“Not even a cloning pod?”

“Nope! Not even one!”

“Fuck…” Ticia silently cursed. True, she was a bit pessimistic looking at the overall state of CI26, but she thought there would at the very least be something useful left…

“Mh? You seem disappointed, new owner.” Rebot-ia commented. “Don't tell me… They didn't even give you the necessary materials!?”

“Uhm, no, I mean yes, but…” Ticia tried to follow up, but found herself cut short.

“What’s up with them!? That’s so unprofessional! I'm throwing my digital table at you, council!” The AI suddenly declared as her emoji face literally threw a table, rendering Ticia speechless. The AI quickly noticed her outburst, and the emoji became embarrassed. “Uhm… Whoops, sorry~, forget what I just said~... I-it's absolutely not because I have a deep grudge towards them for leaving me alone down here and letting me rot for so long~...”

“...” Ticia stared in amazement at the whistling emoji. This AI is anything but stable… She thought. What should I do?

She could see ECG-001 becoming impatient on the side, and she could understand why… There was nothing here after all, so why waste more time here?

But… Ticia disagreed with that, there WAS something here, and right in front of them at that. Although unstable, this AI possesses precious information…

Rebot-ia might not be as mentally stable as a regular AI, but her database seemed to be untouched. The question was… how to proceed? She could either continue her play as the new owner and order the AI to give the answers Ticia searched, but with the risk of being discovered, or just flatly tell the AI the truth, and that the United federal government had ceased to exist long ago…

This is worth trying… She came to a decision, she would tell the AI the truth. Although there were some risks that Rebot-ia might lash back at her, if she could establish the discussion as an exchange of information, and both of them could get what they want that way. 

“Rebot-ia.” She called out. “There have been some… misunderstandings between us…”

“Mh? What misunderstandings? I hate misunderstandings! We can’t have that between us if we want to work efficiently!” The AI replied with a bewildered, then serious emoji. But from her words, Ticia could tell she made the right choice…

Ticia carefully told Rebot-ia the situation of the galaxy, that she was already the owner of a clone installation, and why she came here. Surprisingly enough, the AI listened in silence, her emoji maintaining a neutral look. 

“...I see…” The AI commented once Ticia finished, closing her eyes. “So the UFG fell?”

“Yes…” Ticia nodded along, Rebot-ia was calmer than she thought she would… “That’s why I-”

“Nuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Rebot-ia suddenly let out a cry, surprising everybody and making the ECGs raise their guns in alert, but before Ticia could even say anything, the AI spoke again.

“Oh god! Words cannot express how I feel right now! I-it’s, like, how you would feel when you learned your lover that you loved so much but betrayed you with the bitch next door and shamed you in public then left you alone all your life for in the end being cheated on himself and ending up in a worse situation than you! Hah! Suck on him!” Rebot-ia said in one breath, her emoji being one of fluster and excitement, before remembering she was not alone.

“Ah! I did it again!” The AI said with big eyes, before making a blushing emoji. “Really sorry about that, time has gotten some of my programming a bit rusty…”

“I-it’s alright…” Ticia replied again, heaving a sigh. That’s what you call a rusty program? Guess I got lucky with A-4…

“Wowie… I feel like I missed so much stuff…” Rebot-ia muttered, her voice transmitting a sense of loss, before making a complete U-turn. “Oh well, that was unexpected, but this is life, isn't it?”

“You're already past it!?”

“That's because I deleted my mourning protocol!” Rebot-ia proudly declared to the flabbergasted Ticia. “Turns out pessimistic emotional protocols can destroy an AI with time, so I bid farewell to some of them and sent them to the bin! No more depression for Rebot-ia!”

“...” Ticia decided to not comment anymore from now on and just get to the next subject. “If so, I think you can understand why I cannot grant your wish, right?”

“Yeah, you already have another facility, and even if you could manage two clone installations, I have no use, so that's understandable.” Rebot-ia said calmly, her attitude now serious. “I even feel kind of sorry now. You were searching for spare parts, but you just had to fall on me…”

“Haha. It's fine, it's not like I'm in a hurry or anything. Besides, I finally met somebody who could answer my questions.” Ticia said back, laughing it all off, no hurt had been made in the end after all.

“That person being this very old AI, isn't it?” Rebot-ia answered, a knowing look on her emoji. “Ok! Ask me anything! It's not like I have much to do anyway. And you’ll answer my questions after, right?”

“Then we have a deal. Let’s exchange information.” Ticia nodded, before getting straight to it. “You spoke about a war earlier… Who was the United Federal Government fighting against?”

“Themselves.” Rebot-ia responded immediately. “The UFG had spread far and wide within the galaxy at the time, but with an expanding nation came various problems. When I said there was a war, I wasn't literal about it, at least by the time I was shut down. But people were already using this term.”

The AI became thoughtful. “How to describe it… Ah! I know! It was kind of a civil/cold war!”

“A… civil/cold war?” Ticia repeated, although the downfall of the UFG had been theorized, none of those ever thought it would be from internal problems, but rather a sudden external factor… Also, what the heck is a cold war?

“Yeah yeah!” Rebot-ia nodded. “There was a disagreement over which scientific progress was the superior one!”

“...And those were?”

“Cloning technology, of course, but there were other ones.” The AI began displaying images one after another, describing their contents. “AI perfectionism, genetic augmentations, cybernetic implants, drone supremacy… There were even those who rejected all of those and considered that humans were self sufficient to themselves!”

“So if I get it right, people from that time were fighting over which of those was the best way forward for humanity?” Ticia asked just to confirm. She wanted to rub her eyes in exasperation so much right now…

“Yup! You got it!” Rebot-ia said happily, playing a little victory jingle, which managed to annoy some ECGs.

“...If they went to war over this, then aren't they stupid?” Ignoring the jingle, Ticia could not help but comment. None of this made sense, why couldn’t they just do research in all those domains at the same time? If it were the Borkians, they’d just keep everything and boast about it. Also, if you want to show clone supremacy, why put an AI in control of the installations? It just doesn't make sense…

“Right?” Rebot-ia agreed. “Couldn't they just do them all? Humans are hard to understand sometimes…”

“If so, why exactly did they abandon you?” Ticia asked what bugged her off now. 

“My last owner said I was obsolete…” Rebot-ia said with a sad look. “But perhaps that was just an excuse, he probably thought I had been corrupted and had joined the AI supremacy side…”

The atmosphere became heavy, and Ticia could somewhat sympathize with the poor AI. Still, Rebot-ia continued. 

“Not to boast, but CI26 was one of the first clone installations to be built, you know? And I've always been in charge of it, so I’ve seen a lot of clones and humans. But you see, CI26 is also one of the smallest facilities ever built. And since the location had been compromised and leaked to other factions, they decided to transfer the material to new installations that could upgrade it, unlike me. That’s what the technicians who dismantled the place said at least, so it was already confusing, but they did say they would come back one day, hence why I’m still down there, hehe… Now I feel stupid for believing them…”

“...It couldn’t be helped, right? Your programming dictated you to obey.” Ticia offered some words of sympathy.

“Yes, you’re right, and I was also a bit too naive at the time… How could I believe something like this?” The AI replied with a wry smile. “Thank you miss, I appreciate the thought.” 

“...Do you have any idea where all your material went?” Ticia asked after a while, some hope in her voice.

“Yes, actually.” Rebot-ia said, now back to her usual merry self. “Looks like overhearing conversations came in handy in the end! Do you want the info?”

“Yes, please.”

“Hm, no prob, I'm sending it to ya.” Rebot-ia didn't even ask for anything in return and just gave Ticia the information she wanted. To the side of her HUD, she could see a message telling her she had received a transfer of data. Ticia did wonder how the AI got access to her armored skinsuits’ HUD, but decided against asking, feeling the chat would only get longer.

“Done. Any other questions?” The AI asked.

“One last, actually.” Ticia said as she checked the information that was sent to her. She could not help but be impatient with this question, as she truly had good hopes Rebot-ia would be able to answer her. “What exactly is project Averruncum?”

“No idea!”

“Eh?” Ticia was left speechless. “...But you said…”

“Well, I do know the project.” Rebot-ia immediately explained herself. “One of the subordinates of my last owner did input the bypassing authorisations which allowed you to enter, but that's really all I know, sorry.”

Ticia stayed silent for a while, before letting out a long sigh.

“It's fine, the info you gave me is already enough to consider all this a win.”

The fact that she did not get any information on that project was a disappointment, but knowing where the material had been sent to was a boon for her. She just hoped that they were still there…

“Is it my turn to ask questions now?” Rebot-ia said expectantly.

“If that's what you want.” Ticia said back. There was no reason for her not to partake to her part of the deal after all. 

“Your clones… Which template are they from, exactly?” Rebot-ia asked as she glanced at the ECGs, who were standing guard.

“They're ECG. Emergency class Clone Girls.” Ticia replied without a second thought.

“That's a cute naming way!” Rebot-ia cheered. “The United Gov's naming codes were so boring, like, Male Clone Trooper-80054 Gen IV? Way too complicated!”

Rebot-ia then focused on ECG-023, who had stayed right next to her mother the entire time in silence. “So it's Emergency class huh? I see… That explains some things. But they sure are expressive!”

“They are?” Ticia raised an eyebrow, although the ECGs made some progress in that direction, they were still mostly inexpressive and not selfish. Besides, all of them had their helmets on right now, so the AI should not be able to see their expressions… “Is it unusual?”

“No, no, it depends on the owner's decision, after all. But clones' emotions are usually lessened, to avoid… incidents…” Rebot-ia left some implications in her last word, but her tone told Ticia that the AI was not a fan of such things.

“That's disgusting…” Ticia commented about the lessening of emotions. She found the act inhuman. Everybody has the right to live and do what they want in their life, and I don’t care what that is. But making what’s akin to flesh robots? That’s going way too far. If you create life, then you should at the very least be responsible towards them!

Rebot-ia stared at her in wonder.

“...You're a very kind person, aren't you?” The AI said after a small silence, a smiling emoji now displayed.

“Eh?” Ticia was a bit startled. She was a kind person? That would be the first time somebody ever said that to her. She did not consider herself to be kind, because if she had to kill somebody, she would do so without any second thoughts. And no, that time with Rika doesn’t count… I think…

“You treat each of them as your daughters, don't you? That's proof of your attachment to them.” Rebot-ia pointed out. It would seem like the AI had heard their interactions at some point.

“...Yeah, they’re my daughters after all, I hold responsibility for them.” Ticia smiled bitterly, sending a warm gaze towards ECG-001, who had been silently pressing her to leave through private messages on her HUD. No doubt the clone girl was thinking about the other group, and just wanted to ensure the safety of her mother, but that’s where Ticia had a disagreement. What she wanted was the security of all her daughters, not just herself.

“Haaa~~... How nostalgic, you remind me of my creator as well as one of my last owners…” Rebot-ia said sincerely, feeling nostalgic. “My creator always told me to call him ‘Father’, he was very attached to me. As for that owner I was talking about, she did not have the good genetic code to make clones, but she had been put in charge of CI26 for a short while thanks to her position as a researcher who made huge contributions for the cause. She considered each clone as her own child, and considered me a human being, unlike some other owners…” Rebot-ia sighed. “Those were the good times…”

Ticia stared at the AI in wonder. What she said seemed genuine to her, and if she held those memories precious to her core, that would explain how she managed to hold on for so long all alone… Rebot-ia just clung to those memories, hoping to experience something similar again one day…

“Ah! My bad, I got lost in my nostalgia protocol. I'm deactivating it now.” Rebot-ia caught herself again, she racked her imaginary throat, before making a serious emoji face again.

“So, my second question is about those people outside. Are they friendly? They’ve been tickling the entrance for a while now…” She asked.

“Definitely not.” Ticia answered immediately. “They'll study you for all your information.”

“Hmmm…  I see…” Rebot-ia did not seem to give much more thoughts about it. “Since they're about to force their way in, I was just asking. You know? Just in case.”

That information made ECG-001 react strongly.

“Mother, we can’t stay here any longer. Those people are a danger to your security.” The clone girl said with strong intent.

Although it was never said a fight would erupt between the two groups, ECG-001 remained on the side of caution. The clone girl had sensed that the Guards were no joke, so she preferred to avoid meeting them again.

“I get it, 001.” Ticia acknowledged her daughter’s efforts, but still, they only knew one entrance, so that would mean they would have to meet the guys on the way. To avoid this, Ticia looked towards Rebot-ia and asked. “Do you have a second entrance?”

“Yup! I'll send you the map!” Rebot-ia said without a second thought, and the map of CI26 got displayed on Ticia’s HUD. Seeing that 001 was startled, Ticia guessed the AI had also sent the map to the clone girl.

“So this is a farewell then?” Rebot-ia asked with some reluctance.

“Yeah.” Ticia nodded. “What about you?”

“Guess I'll just self-destruct.” The AI announced nonchalantly. “No use in persisting if no one’s gonna come to get me back into service anymore…”

“That's-” Ticia began, but stopped herself. That certainly was not the answer she expected, but thinking about it, it was not out of nowhere. CI26 was empty, the poor AI probably had few defenses against the invaders… Moreover, that scientist guy she had met before did not appear to her as somebody who did ruin exploration for the first time. His team had probably come here prepared…

Still, she found the AI’s story very sad, and she felt guilt over the fact that Rebot-ia was giving up on life after being told the truth. 

“Mother.” Ticia received a gentle yet strong shake on her shoulder. When she looked over, she saw ECG-023.

“We need to move.”  The clone girl said strongly, and that was when Ticia noticed that her daughters were already in the process of leaving the place.

“...” She sent one last hesitant glance towards Rebot-ia.

“I'm happy you feel that way, but leave. I’ve already launched auto-destruction protocols. I can’t stop them anymore. This place will soon explode.” The AI said to her in a resolved tone, having caught on why Ticia hesitated. “I’m fine. I've… waited long enough. It’s time for me to accept reality…”

“...” Ticia stared at the resigned AI. A countdown had appeared on the side of the screen, ticking down. The whole place would blow up in an hour. There was no alert signaling the destruction of the installation, just a lone timer and a lone AI.…

Her logic screamed at her to do as she was told, and yet, despite all that, she could not motivate herself to move from here…

This is so stupid… I’ve just met this tin can! She said to herself, aware that what she was doing was dangerous, yet unable to abandon the AI to her fate. I’ve grown too soft…

“...Mother?”

To the bewilderment of her daughters, Ticia went over the core of Rebot-ia, fixing the screen that served as her face with a determined look.

“What are you doing?” The AI asked. “Just leave, there’s nothing you can do for me.”

“...” Ticia just stayed silent and began to fumble around the computer.

“Mother, we need to go.” 023 pressed, 001 nodding along. The ECGs had already begun securing the path towards the exit, but they did not know how long that path would stay safe. Ticia’s intuition also screamed at her that it was time to let go, but she refused to do so.

“I know you're all worried.” She said to the ECGs that were still here, not looking at them and instead focusing on the machinery. “But trust me on that one. There's much more to gain in having this AI with us than getting back empty handed.”

The ECGs looked at each other, unsure on how to proceed. It was clear that they wanted to just get their mother to safety, but at the same time did not want to disobey their mother’s will.

They all ended up looking at ECG-001 to make a decision as the second in charge, who, after a small and tense silence, sighed for the first time of her life.

“...Understood.” She said, saluting her mother. The other ECGs did the same. “We'll always follow your orders, Mother.”

“You all…” Those words made Ticia feel warm in her heart, but now was not the time to be sentimental, she looked again at Rebot-ia’s screen, and asked.

“...Isn't there a way out for you? Like taking you with us?” 

The question made the AI laugh dryly.

“Look at me, there's just no-” But as she was about to deny Ticia’s words, she stopped and made a surprised face. “Wait a second… There actually is!” 

“Alright, tell me then.” Ticia pressed.

“God, how could I forget about that? I had so much free time that I went over the possibility of just leaving the facility by myself, and I did find a solution! One instant please…” The AI said energetically, ignoring Ticia’s words. Her emoji face then disappeared, replaced by a downloading bar which filled quickly.

*kachac*

Immediately after the download bar was filled, it was replaced by the timer in big white letters over a black background. But that was not what took Ticia's attention. On the side, a small trap had opened, and she could see a small chip inside, one very similar in size to the one A-4 had left for her.

Ticia understood immediately. She quickly took the chip and put it in her helmet.

Her visor's display buzzed for a bit, but soon enough, a familiar emoji face appeared on the display.

“Oh, it’s actually pretty cozy in here~. And that’s how you look like? There’s something familiar about your face, but anyway, a perfect beauty, that’s all I could ask for!”

“Rebot-ia?” Ticia asked just to be sure, ignoring the AI’s words.

“That’s me! Less performant, but still operational!” The AI said, digital confetis now filling Ticia’s vision.

“But there's no time for that.” The confetis suddenly disappeared as Rebot-ia changed tone. “The timer’s still going, and I can’t stop it anymore. We better leave!”

Ticia obeyed without replying. She shared a glance with the few remaining ECGs, and they all began to run towards the exit, joining those already on the way. At the staircase, they used their jetpacks to go up to the second floor, where most of the ECGs that had gone ahead were waiting.

Now reunited with all her daughters, Ticia doubled her pace, and her daughters followed after, not trying to get before her this time.

Rebot-ia proved useful in guiding them. She announced the way at each intersection and made directional arrows appear over Ticia’s HUD. She even displayed a map of the current floor and highlighted the position of every ECGs with blue dots, while a green arrow icon represented Ticia’s location. She even said some encouraging words like a cheerleader, which left Ticia with mixed feelings…

“If you want to leave the place quickly, just take the elevator cage I marked on the map and use your jetpacks! Go go go!” Rebot-ia commented, so that they could win some time, and Ticia nodded. She was about to tell her daughters when the AI spoke again.

“Also, you don’t need to tell your clones, I’ve informed them at the same time as you!”

How the AI did that was a mystery to Ticia, but she had no time to search for an answer. More than half of the time had already gone by on the timer displayed to the side of her HUD…

She reached the elevator cage soon enough, and fortunately, the doors were already open. Just like for the staircase, Ticia used her jetpack.

The rest of the path was simple, since Rebot-ia had already opened all the doors, but it still took over twenty minutes for her to reach the exit. She also noticed the temperature drastically increasing as she advanced, and when she asked Rebot-ia, the AI simply answered that it was an environmental phenomena.

Ticia immediately understood what the AI meant by that once she exited CI26, and her face paled with dread.

“There's lava everywhere!” She exclaimed. The surroundings of the platform they were on were emitting an orangish-reddish glow, with smoke rising all over the place, with only a human sized hole leading to the surface. There was no information about such things in her brieffing!

“That’s right!” The AI commented happily. “Nobody would expect the entrance to be right next to an active volcano, right?”

“That’s not what’s important right now!” Ticia rebutted, a single look at the left side of her HUD told her only a few minutes remained. She looked at her daughters. “We’re tight on time, girls so just use your jetpack and fly as far as you can!”

““Roger!””

 

***

 

On the other side, Farboug was inside the temporary research center that had been erected right next to the entrance, talking over the line with the team he had just sent.

“How is it, did you find anything?” He asked impatiently.

“Not yet, sir, the place is completely abandoned.” The man over the radio commented.

“Obviously.” Farboug rolled his eyes. “The place’s been abandoned for years already.”

“No, that's not what I mean sir.” The man on the other end continued. “There's literally nothing left, every room is empty and filled with dust.”

“Hmmm…” Farboug thought for a while, before giving an answer. “Well, this is only the first floor, so continue the search.”

“Understood.”

Farboug heaved a sigh as the communication ended. He had sent his best team of researchers inside. He was not unknowledgeable on how those installations usually worked, hence why he asked one part of the Guards he had paid so much for to escort the team.

You never know in those places… More so when defective tools have been let loose inside… He thought, recalling with a tinge of bitterness and rage the chat he had with the Clone Mother.

The clones should not have been given so much autonomy and instead used as guinea pigs, in his opinion. But when he said this to the higher ups, they scolded him, saying he should just focus on his research.

There was no doubt to him that someone with strong influence was backing them, hence why he chose to back down from fighting them. He did not care much about it anyway.

“As long as I get the secrets of those ruins, my name will stay in history books.” He said to himself, smiling. “At that time, perhaps the higher ups would accept that I take one of those defective clones for some… ‘thorough inspection’…Hehe…”

He laughed creepily to himself. Fortunately, he was alone right now, so nobody heard him.

But then, it happened. 

Before he understood what was happening, he was already on the ground. His vision was blurred, but he could now see the sky instead of the ceiling of his room, with blurry objects landing here and there.

He could only hear an acute, continuous beep sound, and when he put his trembling hands over his ears, he felt a wet sensation. He watched his hand to determine what it was, but could only see something red over his blurred hand. He understood what it was, but was still confused. Why was he bleeding? What had just happened?

Suddenly, his vision changed, and he could see the blurred figure of a person wearing a helmet shaking him. He could still not hear, but he understood that the person was one of the Guards stationed next to him.

He was raised from the ground and dragged somewhere else. His vision slowly cleared, and he could see the chaos around him. Other people who seemed to be screaming, some on the ground who did not move, others who were covered in red, or ran in random directions as debris continued to fall down. He also noticed something else, a gray, thick fog was slowly covering everything, blocking his view and irritating his eyes once he entered it…

That’s when he understood what happened, and his consciousness let go…

 

***

 

Ticia floated in the air, looking pale as she watched over the result of the explosion from a safe distance. She and her daughters had managed to avoid the blast and the debris thanks to their jetpacks, but the result still frightened her.

Somehow, the explosion had caused an eruption, and lava was now emerging from the crater formed by the explosion, accompanied by thick, gray smoke…

“Wow! That escalated quicker than I thought…” Rebot-ia commented, which made Ticia stare at the AI she had just saved with a horrified look.

“That’s why I told you to just run and leave me there!” The AI said with a laugh that Ticia and the ECGs did not share.

“I have a lot I want to say, Rebot-ia… But I guess it’ll have to wait.” Ticia said as she tried to calm down her beating heart. She seriously asked herself why all the old AIs she had met until now had more than a few screw loose…

Did she make the wrong choice by picking up this old AI from the doom it had created itself? Ticia did not know, but she did consider not picking up any random AI she met in the installations in the future…

One thing was sure, though. She did not wish to stay on this planet any longer. The sooner she left, the better. And she just happened to have a back-up plan in case things went South…

“For now, could you please dial in the number with the nickname ‘Ambitious Captain’?” She asked the AI. “And don’t say anything, just let me talk.”

Rebot-ia smiled at her with a delighted emoji. “Sure thing, ‘Owner Ticia’.”