Clone Girls

“Today is a good day~♪!” Nia declared out loud suddenly as she walked towards class.

“Fufu, I think so too~.” Her sister, Mia giggled, used to her sister’s antics.

There was a reason the both of them were in such a good mood today, and that was because today was the first day of classes they had selected.

Nia was overexcited, she hummed happily, and her sister watched her with a sweet smile.

I’ll be able to freely touch machinery without getting scolded!

Today’s first class would be mechanics for Nia, and her fingers were itching to fiddle with something mechanical. Without thinking about it, her pace increased.

“Geez, wait for me, Nia~.” Her sister said, pouting a bit. Nia immediately stopped and scratched the back of her head, laughing.

“Sorry Mia, but I can’t stop myself! I want to get into the action already!”

“I know, sister. I feel the same way.” Mia replied with a knowing smile. “But do things in moderation, okay? Else you’re gonna get scolded again.”

That might happen. Was what Nia immediately thought, not denying the fact that she might overdo it. But it’s fine, Rika won’t scold me hard.

She was talking from experience, as each time her pranks went too far, Rika would gently scold her, sighing before finishing the scolding with a smile and sending her off, without any punishment. For that, Nia was very thankful, as she knew that if it was her mother that handled the problem, her scolding would have ended with her flying…

“It’s ok, it’s ok! I won’t go too far!” She said reassuringly to her sister, but Mia sent her a doubtful look.

“Really? But this morning, your joke was way too bad…”

“Ugh…” The fact that her sister said this straight to her face was as if Nia received a slap on the face. She looked at the device that was stuck to her right hand.

“Was it? It’s just a small fart joke though…” She mumbled. “Should I try it with my class-”

“Don’t.” Mia immediately stopped her.

“Bu-”

“Don’t.”

“...” Nia could not help but falter a bit, her sister was smiling at her but she could feel an invisible pressure around her.

“I-I get it.” She ended up saying while looking away, and as soon as she did so, the pressure disappeared.

“That’s my favorite sister!” She hugged Nia while giggling. Nia did not know what to do about all this though.

I’m happy Mia cares about me this much, but…

She could not help but think that her sister had changed compared to before.

True, if she looked at every action her sister took recently, she could not help but think her sister’s shyness had disappeared. She knew that was not really it though, as Mia rarely spoke to strangers if someone from her family was not here, but now at least, she could stare back at other people in the eyes.

The Mia from back then would not have been able to do that at least.

Nia was happy that her sister had managed to get over this problem, but at the same time, something a bit unexpected happened. Mia’s tastes slightly changed.

The two of them would always hang out together and have good times, but on some small matters, they had some differences. The biggest of which being that Mia did not laugh to all of her sister’s jokes anymore.

The best exemple she could think of was exactly what happened this morning, as she tried her fart joke with her sister. When she asked Mia to shake her hand, and the fart noise came out, Mia was surprised at first, while Nia burst out laughing, but she stopped immediately after noticing the cold and judging the look her sister was sending her way.

The Mia of the past would have laughed, but instead, I got scolded…

Nia apologized, of course, but was left asking herself whether her jokes were not funny anymore, to which Mia just smiled and said that of course not. In fact, Nia did her prank to Willia, and seeing the flustered look of her third sister, Mia giggled.

I guess she just doesn’t like it when it’s done to her or to outsiders…

She could guess why though. One was a matter of reputation, and the other was because recently, Mia spent more and more time with Nicia, who was well mannered and always serious, if not the complete opposite of Nia herself. There was no doubt that Mia also enjoyed being more ‘girlish’, for all that Nia understood of the term.

True, Nia also enjoyed doing some ‘girlish’ things too, but not on the same level as Mia or Nicia. Still she could not help but feel a little jealous.

There’s no way I’m gonna say it though. So long as Mia is enjoying herself, that’s all that matters to me. I’m her reliable sister after all.

She concluded, smiling. She would not let jealousy get the best of her. Mia might also have caught on to this, as despite the fact that she could have gone ahead with Nicia, she waited for her little sister.

The both of them continued to walk, exchanging some small banter, and Nia was just happy to have a good time with her sister, the people passing by could not help but look at the two of them, some with strange looks, others with mean ones, but neither of them cared about it, they just enjoyed the moment.

“Oh, I must go left here.” Mia suddenly remarqued at an intersection.

“Eeh~? Can't you stay with me a bit longer?” Nia asked, faking sadness. Her sister smiled and hugged her.

“I can't do that, the laboratories are that way.” The both of them stayed like this for a moment, but soon enough, Mia let go and began walking towards the laboratories with her affiliated ECG. “Have a good time, Nia.” She said while waving her hand.

“Yeah, you too!” Nia waved back with a smile, she then looked at her own ECG. “Let’s go, 060!”

“Yes, sister.”

 

***

 

Nia found her class quite easily. It was a huge hangar where multiple people were gathering.

When people saw her, they gave her curious looks, not because she was a clone, but they were simply questioning why she was here. As Nia scanned the area to see if she recognized someone, she noticed the severe lack of girls. If she were to make an estimate, there were around ninety percent boys, and the rest were girls. But even then, when she tried to get close to her new classmates, they avoided her, leaving Nia in an awkward situation as they spoke of her behind her back. Fortunately, not soon after, she heard a military trumpet. The lesson was about to begin…

Everybody began to make ranks, standing at attention while looking at the man that entered. Nia and ECG-060 followed, of course. The man that entered was a muscular man, with a build so huge Nia was wondering if he was even human.

“At ease, junior officers.” The man said in a loud yet clear voice. “I am Sergeant  Steiner, your teacher for mechanics this year. With me, you won't have an easy time. I’ll make sure only the best of you all are able to pass this class.”

He then smirked, and Nia felt he was looking her way. “The ignorant newcomers might be wondering what we’re doing in this hangar, right?”

I’m not? Nia tilted her head, the answer seemed obvious to her, but her small action caught the eye of the instructor, and he smiled fearlessly.

“That’s because we’re mechanics, you all! Classes aren’t for us! Our place is in the workshop, right next to our tools! Do you all understand?!”

“Sir yes Sir!” Everybody answered.

“What was that? I can’t hear you!”

“SIR YES SIR!”

“Good!” Sergeant Steiner seemed satisfied, he then continued. “Throughout this workshop are pieces of equipment that need some well needed maintenance. Your task is to repair them so that we can send them to our boys on the front. I don’t care how you do it, but it must be achieved before the end of class if you want to continue taking this course, is that clear?” Everybody nodded. “Now get to work!”

As if his words were a warning for an apocalypse, the students frantically dispersed into smaller groups, gathering over objects that needed maintenance. As Nia was wondering where she should begin, a voice made her stop in her tracks.

“Hey, little girl, are you sure this is for you?”

“Yes?” Nia turned, only to see Sergeant Steiner looking at her with a big grin on his face.

“This place is no place for kids to play around. Clone or not, you hear me.” He said with a serious tone.

Ah, I get what type of man he is… What a pain in the ass… Nia commented in her mind, feeling cramps forming on her face. Still she maintained a neutral expression.

“Oh, of course, sir. I’m knowledgeable enough on what to do.”

“Is that so?” The smile on Sergeant Steiner’s face deepened. “Then show it to me!” 

An assistant arrived with a cart filled with what Nia could only describe as total junk, and as the Sergeant searched through the pile, Nia heard some students whisper around her…

“Hey, isn’t that a clone?”

“Yeah, definitely is.”

“Looks like she got the attention of the instructor, poor girl…”

“Welp, better be her than us, right?”

““Yeah.””

So this is how it is…

Nia immediately caught what situation she was in. She did not know why, but it seemed like the Sergeant had chosen her as his new bullying target. But Sergeant Steiner did not know he had chosen the wrong target today…

Fine, I’ll play along. Nia said to herself, holding herself from smiling from ear to ear. We’ll see who has the last laugh…

Meanwhile, Sergeant Steiner found what he searched for. With strength surpassing that of a normal human, he pulled out an engine from the pile, and put it in front of Nia.

“See this engine, little girl?” He said sternly, pointing at the rusted machinery. Nia nodded, paying attention.

“It’s a reactor for a plane that crashed during the Borkian-Pellian war, though I’d doubt you’d know that.” The sergeant said with a smile that began to irritate Nia. As if she was stupid enough not to recognise such a rudimentary plane reactor!

“Your task is to make it operational by the end of this hour. If you need some help, just come begging me, and I might help you in an act of kindness.”

“Yes Sir.” Nia saluted, and Sergeant Steiner nodded before taking a few steps back and crossing his arms. He exerted a small amount of pressure on Nia, though she did not care much about it. Nia was already concentrating on her task.

The reactor’s taken quite a bad beating, but it doesn’t seem to have any irreparable damage at a glance. It’ll be an easy fix!

Other students were not of the same opinion as Nia though…

“There it is again… The Sergeant’s impossible task…”

“That engine is just a pile of scrap. There’s just no way she can repair it. Why did he give it to her?”

“When he doesn’t like somebody, the instructor just gives them some scrap to work on to destroy their spirit and make them give up. Looks like that girl’s fate has been sealed.”

““Let’s enjoy the show.””

Most students decided to keep an eye on the situation, waiting for the moment Nia’s spirit broke. As for the concerned person…

“Hmmmm… I see…” Nia, who had been examining the reactor closely, nodded to herself, before going over to where Sergeant Steiner was.

“What’s that? Already giving up?” The muscular man said with a sneer.

“No Sir, please move out of the way.” Nia said back, inexpressive and professional, which took aback everybody.

“Sorry?”

“I need to get the tools from behind you.” She pointed out, and when Sergeant Steiner realized he was standing in the way, his face grew red.

“Hmph! Do as you wish!” He huffed, sidestepping. Nia ignored him and the surrounding students. She carefully selected the tools who’d be useful to her, and once she was done equipping herself, she went back to the reactor.

“Is she an idiot? There’s no way she can repair this pile of metal!” Somebody said out loud, but Nia ignored them.

“Hehe, don’t worry little one, I’ll make you more performant than you’ll ever be…” She said quietly as she caressed the metallic surface filled with holes, a creepy smile on her face.

“Stop mumbling to yourself and get to work already!” The Sergeant shouted, and Nia was happy to oblige. In an instant, she began to work.

“Wh-what in the-”

“S-so fast!”

“The heck? What is this girl even doing!?”

Under the eyes of stupefied students, as well as Sergeant Steiner, Nia tinkered with the reactor at an unbelievable speed, removing some parts, hammering others, cutting pieces of metals and replacing them with others.

“Done!” She said after a while, letting out a breath of air.

That was a fun one to repair!

““...”” The onlookers remained unmoving, baffled. They had a hard time believing the piece of scrap metal that the sergeant had prepared had transformed into a clean looking and functional reactor…

“Hey~, Sergeant? I finished the task you’ve given me.” Nia went in front of Sergeant Steiner. She had a hard time holding her smile back as she looked at the giant man’s stupefied face.

“Im-”

“Im?”

“Impossible! You’re just a little girl! Let me check in person…” Sergeant Steiner immediately went over to the reactor. He looked for the interrupter to turn on the reactor, and, again, to the surprise of everybody, the reactor they thought would never work again, came to life.

“This, this is…” Sergeant Steiner had a hard time believing what he was seeing as he looked at every inch of the reactor… After a while of observing, he glared at Nia. “Hey, you! How did you do this!?”

“Mh? I just made some simple repairs?” Nia tilted her head innocently.

““No no, this isn’t simple at all!”” Everybody retorted.

“Just- What exactly did you do, brat? Tell me, this is an order.” Sergeant Steiner ordered.

“Yes, Sir!” Nia saluted. “First off, I removed unneeded metal parts before proceeding to clean up the whole engine. Then I removed the rust, and then-...”

Her explanation was simple yet at the same time complicated. Most of the students did not get what she was saying, but some did…

“Ah! So that’s how she did it!” Some of them shouted out loud, impressed, and others pressed them to explain.

As for Sergeant Steiner, he was frowning.

“...How in the world did you manage to do that without any spare parts?” He asked, and everybody now focused on Nia again.

“There was no need for any. I just recycled some of the metal I removed to make a cleaner and more efficient escape funnel, and then welded the pieces together.” Nia replied with an innocent smile, which left everybody speechless.

““...””

“Sir?”

“A-ahem!” Sergeant Steiner pulled himself together at Nia’s call, standing straight. “I-I guess you’ve done a good job for your first time, junior officer. Although your explanation is a bit lacking, and your repairs aren’t up to standards.”

“With all due respect, Sir, I’ve done the best I could with the tools at my disposition.” Nia replied back, indirectly accusing the man of asking something undoable. “Besides, I do believe this engine will work better than ever before.”

“Hmph, don’t be presumptuous.” Sergeant Steiner seemed to bite at her provocation. “You were just lucky, that’s all. Here, let’s work on this tank transmission.”

“Yes Sir!” Nia smiled happily as he said this. He did not know it yet, but he was already ensnared into Nia’s ploy…

Let’s tease him a bit longer!

 

***

 

“I’ve finished, Sir!” Nia declared, full of energy.

“Oh...” Was the weak answer she received from the sergeant who seemed drained of any energy.

This was Nia’s fifth consecutive ‘miracle repair’, and people around her had now grown used to it. They either took notes from the side of her explanations or looked at Nia with a mix of awe and fear…

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now…”

“She achieved all of Sergeant’s Steiner’s impossible tasks!”

“What shall I do next sir?” Nia asked the sergeant cutely.

“...Ah, you’re free to do whatever you want, girl…” The sergeant replied in a dispirited voice, shoulders low.

““Eh?”” Nia was surprised by this answer, but she was not the only one. Everybody looked at their instructor with big, round eyes…

“Sir?” Nia asked again.

“There’s nothing I can teach you. Just do whatever you want, you’ll pass this class.” The tired sergeant sighed, waving Nia away.

“Then, I can just tinker with anything I want?” Nia asked with stars in her eyes.

“...Just don’t bother the others unless they want some help from you, got it?”

“Yes Sir!” She saluted energetically at his words. Sergeant Steiner nodded slowly, before turning, and walking away in low spirit.

“Uhm, sir? Where are you going?” One of the students asked as the sergeant’s foot led him to the exit.

“Grab some alcohol!” He shouted back, surprising everybody. “And ask for retirement while I'm at it. I think I’m getting too old for this shit…”

With that, Sergeant Steiner left the hangar.

Whoops, I might have gone a tiny little bit too far… Nia thought to herself, not reflecting at all. As for the other students, they were in complete denial.

“N-no way…”

“She beat Sergeant Steiner so bad he asked for retirement…”

“Who’s gonna teach us now…”

“Now what to do…” Nia asked herself as she searched for something fun to do. She spotted someone struggling with the pieces he was repairing. “Hey there! Can I lend a hand?” She asked with a smile on her face.

“Huh?” The man froze for an instant, before shaking his head so fast Nia thought it would unscrew itself from his head. “N-no thank you, I’m fine on my own!”

“That so?” Nia did not insist further, feeling that the man feared her. She smiled. “Tell me if you need help, I’ll come right away!”

“Y-yeah…”

She went around some other groups like this, asking if she could lend a hand, but each time, they refused her. Now Nia was beginning to regret playing with the Sergeant too much, but it’s not like there was nothing to do though, there was still a lot of unrepaired machinery that waited for her.

“...Oh?” That was when she finally noticed a girl who was left alone in a corner… It was a girl with red, shoulder length hair, which seemed a bit messy and dirty. What she was tinkering with caught Nia’s interest…

What is that? It seems familiar… Have I seen it before?

“Fixing this up here… No, it won’t work… Hmm… How do I make this right…” As she approached, she heard the girl mumble to herself.

“Hey, 060, why’s that person alone over there?” Nia asked her sister, who had always followed after her, in a hushed tone, curious as to why the girl, who seemed to be working on something very interesting, was left alone…

“It would seem like she is a transfer student, sister.” ECG-060 replied. She knew this because Rika had given her the list of every student in Nia’s class, and she and her sisters had done a quick background check.

“Really? Do you know more?” Nia seemed more and more interested.

“From the records I had access to, she came from a small academy in the Nolam system.” ECG-060 replied matter-of-factly.

“That so? Why’s nobody approaching her though?” That was something Nia could not understand. Is nobody interested in her?

“That might be because she’s wearing a skirt.” ECG-060 pointed out. “Also, transfer students are rare from what the general said.”

Nia nodded, well aware Rika knew how the academy worked better than anybody else on their side. If Rika said this then it’s the truth…

“Ragh, Fuck!” At this moment, the girl, who had still not noticed Nia and ECG-060 standing behind her, let out a curse while scratching her head with both hands. “I can’t seem to get the hang of it! Just where should I fix this battery!?”

“On the right side, down that hole.” Nia commented.

“Eh?” The girl was startled, she turned warily, and her eyes locked with Nia’s. “...A clone huh? Well, thanks for the advice, but I’ve already thought about this. It doesn’t work.” She said, before refocusing on her work.

Nia did not seem to care about her cold attitude though, her thirst to fix this object had taken over.

“Let me show you.” She grabbed the battery from the girl’s hand.

“Eh? H-hey, who allowed you to-”

*Clunk*

“Eh?” Before the red haired girl could even finish her phrase, Nia had gone over to the device, and fixed the battery where she said.

“There, it should work.” Nia said, seemingly satisfied.

“...Let’s try…” Still wary, the girl turned the machinery on, and with a slow hum, it began to float.

“Oh, it really works!” The girl said half in amazement and in happiness.

“Oh so that’s what you were working on? Interesting…” Nia commented, she now knew why this seemed so familiar to her.

This thing… It’s a hoverer tire, it’s similar yet different from the ones on Rika’s bike.

“You didn’t even know that!?” The girl seemed surprised by the fact that Nia did not know what it was.

“Nope! I just acted how I felt was right!” The clone girl replied with a giggle, pulling out her tongue while closing one eye. The red haired girl stared at her in amazement.

“...A genius.” She muttered.

“Me? A genius?” Nia pointed at herself, before shaking her head. “I dunno about that, but this design… Is this something you made yourself?”

“Eh? Yes, this is my original design.” The girl replied, a bit surprised at Nia’s interest. “I’ve been working on hoverer improvements for a while now, but I couldn’t seem to get it right.”

“You just needed a slight push in the right direction.” Nia smiled happily, and the girl giggled.

“I guess so, as expected from a clone, though, you’re a genius…”

“Then aren’t you a genius too?” Nia replied, pouting a little. For some reason she got annoyed over the fact that she was being called a genius by this girl when all she did was go around fixing stuff with knowledge she had implanted in her brain.

“Eh?” The girl seemed surprised by this comeback.

“To come up with an original design, I don’t think I’d be able to do that, you know?” Nia said.

I’m not confident enough to think of a design myself, at the very least. Improvements to existing designs and small creations is the best I can do…

“Th-thanks.” The girl scratched her cheek while looking away, now embarrassed. “I don’t get this kind of compliment a lot…”

She then raised herself from her crouching position, and that’s when Nia noticed that the girl was shorter than she thought.

“I’m Lotte Irm, just your average transfer student.” Lotte said with a genuine smile.

“I’m Null CG-10, but my mother gave me the name Nia, so use it instead!” Nia replied back in kind, before raising her right hand for a handshake. “Glad to meet a genius!”

“Yeah, same he-”

*Fart*

Just as Lotte shook Nia’s hand, a very loud and noisy fart sound resounded.

“Ah…” Nia immediately realized her mistake, and her face became pale.

I forgot I still had the fart device on!

““Pffft-”” She heard snickers coming from all around, and when she looked around her, she noticed that while most students were working on something, they glanced at the two of them from time to time…

“Hey, that just now…”

“How impolite, to be this loud, it can’t come from the little girl, right?”

“Don’t be like that, she comes from a rural system, so it isn’t strange that she doesn’t know politeness.”

Mean words were thrown here and there, targeting only Lotte for some reason. When Nia looked at her new acquaintance and saw her face gradually darkening, she panicked.

“I-I can explain.”

“...No need…” Lotte glared at her, which made Nia falter a bit. “You just wanted to shame me in front of everybody huh?”

“N-no, that's no-” Nia tried to deny as she felt a pang of pain in her chest, but Lotte cut her words.

“What’s there to explain?”  Lotte frowned, her glare intensifying. “I should have been more cautious, it’s always been like this anyway. Whether it be here or…” She did not finish her words, instead, she slowly walked away. As she passed Nia, she muttered this. “You, I’ll remember this.”

“N-no, wait!” Nia tried to stop Lotte, but before she knew it, the girl had disappeared from sight. She stayed silent for a while, trying to understand what just happened. “...060, I think I messed up.”

“That would be an understatement, sister.” Her little sister said sharply, clearly judging her as guilty on this whole matter. “Our family would have been happy if you managed to make a friend instead of an enemy for once.”

“Ugh, this is all a misunderstanding!” Nia could not help but cry out loud.

I-I didn’t want to make a prank this time, I swear this was an accident!

She knew she could only blame herself for it, and now, she was feeling depressed.

And here I met someone I could talk to without any restraint…

She had not been with Lotte for very long, but through this small exchange, she felt like their passions as mechanics had been connected to one another. It was a strange feeling that she could not exactly put her finger on, and it was a different one from what she shared with Mia…

Perhaps she’s the best teammate I could ask for… Nia thought. But now it seems more like I’ve become her arch-nemesis because of a stupid prank…

For the first time in a while, Nia was seriously reflecting on what she had done, whether it was an accident or not. But why would a stupid fart joke anger her this much?

Perhaps I should go easy on pranks for a little while…

“...Why are you staying here, sister?” ECG-060 suddenly said. “If you want to reconcile, then just go after her.”

“O-oh, you’re right 060, this isn’t like me.” Nia pulled herself together. She slapped both of her hands on her cheeks.

“Ok! Let's solve this misunderstanding! Let’s go, 060!”

“Yes, sister.”

And with a now re-energized Nia, the slightly smiling ECG-060 went ahead. The both of them searched the place. However, they could not find Lotte, who seemed to have left the place.

Nia did not become depressed however. She was now fixed on meeting Lotte again, and sincerely apologizing to her. At the end of the class, Nia cried out loud for everyone to hear.

“Next time we meet, I’ll be sure to explain everything, so wait for me, Lotte!”

Whether the misunderstanding between the two geniuses would be solved remained for the future Nia to solve…