Clone Girls

“Are you ready, eldest sister?” Licia asked as she was about to manually open the door leading to the outside.

“Yes.” Licia responded shortly.

“I’m opening it then.” Lidia declared as she pushed the button right next to the door, there was no need for verification codes or anything since A-4 had to remove all security systems because of the Null codes.

The door made clunky noises as if it had been years since it had not opened, and Licia questioned why A-4 or even Ticia had not repaired this. Bright light invaded the dark and dilapidated hallway, and both clone girls had to close their eyes because of it. After a while, the door finally opened completely, and Licia could take in the scenery.

“What do you think of the outside?” Lidia asked her eldest sister as both stepped outside. 

“It's bright… and green” Licia said to Lidia after seeing a multitude of what she identified as trees.

“Isn't it?” Lidia nodded, before explaining with a bit of pride and excitement. “I too was amazed by it, we knew what it looked like thanks to our implanted knowledge, but seeing it is even better! And if we are lucky, we could see a rabbit!”

“It’s not the time for that.” Licia said to her sister in a serious, chiding tone. Right now, the only thing that she cared about was to reunite with Mia and Nia. “Let’s do one last check up on our equipment before going.”

“Roger.” Lidia responded like a soldier.

Both clone girls were wearing dark skinsuits and had equipped themselves with weapons. Lidia had taken the same attire she had last time, but she had also taken a V-12 carbine to use as her primary weapon. Meanwhile Licia had actually wanted to take the R-31 rifle, but the gun was of the same height as her, making it cumbersome to the current Licia, and so she had to take a V-12 carbine too. She complemented her attire with two TP-100 pistols and one knife, all of them were hooked to the belt of her skinsuit. Each clone girl also brought some communication devices in the form of a headpiece that they had found lying around, so that in case they got separated, they could stay in contact. They could also contact A-4 if there was a need for the AI to help them too.

“...”

“Is something the matter, eldest sister?” Lidia asked as she felt Licia staring at her.

“... No… It’s just, aren’t those skinsuits… sticking a lot to the skin?” She said as she blushed embarrassedly. She did not feel cold or anything, but… I feel like I’m walking around while naked…

She did not know how Ticia did to walk around only wearing that and not feel embarrassed, and Lidia seemed to be fine too, for some reason.

“...You’ll get used to it…” Lidia said weakly, her eyes out of focus. Whatever happened to her, Licia did not want to know. “It’s useful, so what can we say about it?”

“...You’re right, it can save our lives…” Licia answered, convincing herself about the utility of those clothes. It never passed through the head of the clone girls that they could wear other clothes on top of the skinsuit if they were so embarrassed to go around like that. In fact, Ticia always wore her skinsuit under her uniform.

“You’ve got everything?” Licia asked her sister, who nodded back as an answer. “Good, let’s go then.”

“Wait, eldest sister, where are you going?” Lidia asked, stopping Licia as she walked straight ahead.

“Where am I going?” Licia tilted her head, not understanding the question. “I’m going to my sisters, of course.” She announced as if it was obvious.

“Not that.” Lidia shook her head. “How can you be sure they’ve gone that way?”

“...” Licia had nothing to answer to her sister. She was so hurried that she did not think about such things.

“I thought so.” Lidia nodded, as if she knew this would happen, then she proudly announced. “Fortunately, I’m here, elder sister. I know how to track someone.”

“...You do?” Licia asked back with a dubious look. It was not part of the implanted knowledge they received, and she doubted she would have received a special lesson from Ticia about this…

“Well…” Lidia’s little boast was seen through, and she could only scratch her left cheek embarrassedly while telling the truth. “Not really, mother just taught me how to track a rabbit.”

“Are you telling me you consider Mia and Nia as rabbits?” Licia asked back, which made Lidia look away. She had not thought this far when she boasted, but Licia had taken those words seriously and was now reflecting on the subject.

I can’t see those two as that animal…  She thought, imagining both of her sisters with rabbit ears. Well, maybe Mia can be one, but Nia… Nia's animal ear in her mind changed from elongated ears to small pointy ones and a long tail emerged from her back. She’s definitely more like that animal that’s called a ‘cat’ from my implanted knowledge…

That image soon overtook her mind, and soon, Mia also had the same features, beside that, two other mental images of Ticinia and Vinia wearing cat ears and a tail formed in her mind, as they all meowled. That, that could be super cute…

“As expected, they would all look better as cats.” She unexpectedly said out loud.

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

Lidia ended up staring at Licia with big, round eyes, having a hard time believing those words came out from her sister’s mouth, while Licia froze as she realized she had talked out loud.

““...”” They stared at each other for a few seconds, before…

“...Let’s just ask A-4 to tell us where they are…”

“Agreed.” 

Licia broke the awkward silence with those words, and Lidia nodded, not wanting to discuss it any further too. Both had agreed to do as if this talk never happened!

“A-4, you heard me, right?” Licia said out loud, her communication device had been on all this time, so A-4 could hear it all.

“Affirmative.”

The AI answered, before continuing.

“This unit must however notice Null CG-01 Licia that beast features are not compatible with the cloning process.”

“N-not that!” Licia yelled as her face became red with shame. “I’m talking about tracking Mia and Nia!”

“Request has been accepted: Sending coordinates of Null CG-10 Nia’s location…
Warning: Current coordinates of Null CG-09 Mia are unknown.”

“What? She isn’t with Nia?” Licia asked as a bad feeling began to build within her.

“Negatory: This unit has sent drones to locate Null CG-09 Mia’s current position, as well as protect Null CG-10 Nia.”

“...You heard this, right, Lidia?” Licia asked her sister for confirmation.

“...Yes…” Lidia nodded, her face as serious as the one Licia had. To both clone girls, it seemed impossible for their two sisters to separate without a good reason like this, and anxiety began to well up within them… Something had happened, they were sure of this fact.

“... I have the coordinates on the map, let's not waste any more time and join up with Nia as quickly as possible.” Licia declared after looking at the wristwatch that was implemented into the skinsuit. An arrow was pointing in the direction of Nia’s current coordinates.

“Roger.” Lidia nodded, and both walked at a fast pace towards Nia’s location while being wary of their surroundings.

They advanced like that for a while, until A-4 notified them with an alarming tone.

“Warning: Null CG-10 Nia’s current location has been compromised. Hostile units have been identified.
Notification: Enacting protection protocols.”

Hearing this, both Licia and Lidia looked at each other. They had to find their sister, and quickly before it was too late! And so they ran, not caring about getting detected anymore, but as quickly as A-4’s first call went on, another followed soon after.

“Notification: All units present within the perimeter of Null CG-09 Nia have been lost!
Current state of Null CG-09 has been updated to unknown.”

“Already!?” Licia said out loud. “A-4! I don’t care what it costs, send more drones! Null code 003!”

“Null code received. Sending units from nearby locations as reinforcements.”

The AI quickly agreed to the Null code this time, it would seem it had decided to help Licia as much as it could, and Licia was thankful for that.

Licia and Lidia were soon joined by recon drones in their advance to rescue their sister, and they made fast progress. They reached Nia’s location after a while of running at full speed.

Licia had never been so thankful about the daily training Ticia had drilled into their habits. Thanks to that, they were able to arrive quickly without being too exhausted. There was a problem however, the zone was already empty when they arrived.

“...Where?” Licia asked nobody in particular, beginning to search for clues about where Nia could be. She searched like this for some minutes, opening bushes, looking up in the tree branches, she found nothing but destroyed recon drones. It was after searching like this for some time that a hand was suddenly put on her left shoulder from behind.

“Eldest sister…” Lidia said sadly, before closing her eyes and shaking her head. “It’s too late, Nia’s already…”

“...” Gone…Lidia did not say it, but Licia understood what her sister was trying to say. She refused to believe it however. She gritted her teeth and asked the AI for help once again.

“...A-4, tell me you found something…”

The AI took some time to answer, and it was not what Licia so desperately hoped to hear.

“...Negatory: Null CG-10 Nia’s position has been lost. This unit is unable to determine her position…”

*Bang*

Licia hit a tree with all her strength in frustration. She had lost them, not only Mia, but Nia was also gone now! She was not able to prevent something happening to her sisters, and she hated this!

“Eldest sister…” Lidia called out. “I understand your frustration, but we can’t do anything now… We should go back and ask for help from mother…”

“No!” Licia turned back to face Lidia. “We’re not doing that!”

“But, sister…” Lidia called out hesitantly, this whole situation had already grown out of control.

“I said no, Lidia! I won’t be going back to her! I don’t need her!” Licia strongly denied again.

“...” Licia was left speechless at her elder sisters stubbornness, a complicated expression on her face. They stared at each other in silence for a while…

“...If you want to go back and tell her, you can, I won’t prevent you.” Licia broke the silence as she turned away from her sister. She was determined to save her sisters on her own. “But I will continue searching for my sisters, I’ll find Mia and Nia, no matter what!”

“Sister…” Lidia watched her determined elder sister’s back, feeling complicated, and after a moment of internal debate, she announced with a determined look. “Alright, I’ll follow you, sister.”

Licia turned, and saw the look in Lidia’s eyes, just like she had said before, she would follow her. Filled with a sense of rightfulness, she declared.“Alright then, we’ll save our sisters together!”

“Yes!” Lidia replied like a soldier, standing straight.

“Lidia, use whatever you learned to try to find where they went!” Licia ordered, and her sister obliged.

“Roger.”

While Lidia was searching around, Licia talked to her other collaborator. “A-4, I want you to continue to help us with more recon drones if possible.”

“Notification: Null CG-01 Licia’s request is not feasible.”

The AI replied, bewildering Licia.

“What? Why?”

“This unit is already within reach of its current capacities. If Null CG-01 Licia wants to continue her operation, then she will be forced to do so without support.”

“Weird, aren’t you supposed to be able to reach out to the entire system?” Licia asked, she had read the manuals of Clone installation 3 in her free time, unlike Ticia, so she knew what Clone installation 3 was truly capable of.

“Notification: This unit is limited by the current state of Clone installation 3”

A-4’s answer was short and imprecise, but Licia understood what the AI meant.

“...I get it, A-4, thanks for the support. One last request, do you know who captured Nia?”

“...Notification: A pushed analysis of recorded footage and a comparison to older encounters makes this unit classify those people as what owner Ticia would qualify as ‘Republican Commandos’.”

“Alright, do you perhaps know where their base is?” She asked with some hope.

“This unit has analyzed the data owner Ticia had retrieved from older foes and was able to pinpoint the base of the enemy called ‘Ionian Republic’ by owner Ticia.”

“Good, Null code 060, send those informations over to my map.” Licia’s decision was immediate. If it came to it, she would infiltrate the enemy’s base.

“Orders received. This unit must however advise Null CG-01 Licia against the idea of assaulting or infiltrating an enemy base. Null CG-01 Licia will be too far out of reach of this unit’s communication range.”

The AI obeyed, but it still warned Licia, even though both it and Licia knew that she would not go back on her choice.

“No can do, A-4. If Mia and Nia are there, then that’s where I go.” She said to the AI. And after a short silence, she received words whenever expected the AI to say to her.

“...This unit wishes Null CG-01 Licia and Null CG-07 Lidia good luck.”

“...Thanks, A-4.” She thanked back. Without A-4, she would not be where she is right now. Even though she now qualified as a defective clone, plus the fact that the AI did not like her and her sisters much to begin with, it still helped out and gave her assistance.

She then joined Lidia, as she seemed to have found something, and asked as she crouched next to her.“You found something?”

“Yes, I think so…” Licia said not looking at her. She pointed instead at what reassembled a trace left on the soil. “See those traces? They were left behind by something larger than the animals of this forest, and seeing as they are quite fresh, I think it was…”

“Those who catched Nia.” Licia ended her sister’s phrase. to which Lidia nodded.

“Yes.”

Licia looked at the direction her sister was pointing out, and compared it to the information she just received from A-4. She got up and said. “It matches with the direction of the Ionian Republic’s base, so I think you’re right. Let’s follow them for now, Lidia.”

“Roger.”

Both clone girls went further into the forest, following the general direction that was indicated on Licia’s wristwatch and the traces Lidia found. They would infiltrate the enemy’s base if necessary and get their sisters back.

 

***

 

“Welcome back to the base, N squad.” A man wearing a scientist white blouse over his military uniform said as he shook the N squad's boss’s hand. “I was notified about your successful operation, you did great.”

“It was nothing, sir.” The boss of N squad replied humbly. “We only did our job.”

“You are quite the humble man, Mister N1, just like the rumors said.” The man smiled as he complimented N1, but it still had no effect on the latter. Seeing this, the man redirected his gaze towards the rest of N squad, or rather, what they were holding.

“And I presume those two things are the special package you were supposed to send me, right?” He said as he stared at Mia and Nia. N1’s eyebrows twitched a bit when he heard how the man called the two girls, but still nodded as confirmation. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad did not hide their frown and questioning looks directed at the man, who did not seem to care.

“Hoho, truly an excellent prize.” The man declared as he closed in on the two clone girls. Both shook under the intense stare. The man was smiling, but its eyes could not hide the greed and curiosity behind them. Mia trembled, trying to look away, while Nia looked back in defiance, even though her legs were shaking so much it was visible to all.

Seeing those reactions, the man’s smile deepened. “Such different reactions, fascinating.”

“This man… He’s up to no good…” N4 mumbled, she had been put to the side by N1 because she was becoming attached to their prisoners.

“Hold it in, N4.” N12 chided N4 from the side, having heard what she mumbled.

“But you heard how he called them, right?” N4 asked back, that point weirded her out. “Those girls aren’t objects, they’re living people!”

“Calm down N4!” N12 raised her voice a little, but not enough to be heard by anyone else. “I know how you feel, but that’s just how it is, and you know it.”

“...Yes…” N4 said dejectedly, staying silent after this while gritting her teeth.

The Ionian Republic boasted itself as one of the states with the most liberty for its citizens, and while it was true, there were some… darker secrets underneath…

The one that was known to all was the conscription system. It stated that citizens had to fight to defend their country from its enemies, but in truth, it just dictated that in exchange for having their rights guaranteed, citizens had to serve three years within the military to get their rights. If they did not do so, they would then lose their citizenship, and all the privileges that they had. They also forced those who seeked citizenship but were not Ionians from birth to serve at least ten years in the military if they wanted to be granted citizenship.

With this, the republic had a massive amount of military personnel and reserves that could be used to expand their territories, but those troops still had a rather weak morale and level of training…

As a remedy for that, the Ionian Republic had created a new branch of its military that it called the Republican Commandos, and they soon became the face of the republic to both its citizens and the other nations.

The Republican Commandos were officially volunteers who wanted to fight for the republic of their own will, or excellent soldiers issued from the regular armed forces. They would go under a thorough training of three whole years before being deployed to the battlefield or on other duties. As a sign of recognition and unity, besides all commandos receiving an armored skinsuit, they would make a pledge to the republic to serve it until their death or retirement, and would give up their names, adopting code names with their squadmates.

This however, was only half true. While some of the members were volunteers, fanaticals, and elite soldiers, the majority of them were not. They were children that had been raised and trained since birth to become soldiers and serve faithfully the republic, hence, they did not have a name from the beginning. N4, N12 and most of the men in N squad were made of such people.

They had been raised in such a way, but after meeting so many people, exchanging with them, seeing how they lived compared to them and going on so many gruesome missions, they had become less fanatical about the ways of the republic.

Seeing Mia and Nia being treated in such a way, it reminded them of the treatment they had received all their life, and they could not help but be sympathetic to the poor girls who were treated like objects.

The man crouched in front of Nia and Mia, still smiling, he grabbed Mia’s chin as she tried to look away, and forced her to look at him as tears began to fill her eyes. The poor girl was terrified and could not speak up. After a while, he tried to do the same thing with Nia, but the girl resisted, struggling and sending a death glare his way, even though it had little effect because of how frightened she was. She could not even speak, as the N squad had grown tired of her struggles, and had gagged her.

The man then proceeded to touch Mia and Nia’s hair, seeming fascinated by it. This simple act grossed out N4, who had a hard time controlling her emotions.

“...Yes, I’m sure of it.” The man declared as he got up, a huge smile that gave chills to all people present. “It’s what I’ve expected.”

“...Sir?” N1 asked, even though he was the most faithful of his squad, as well as one of the rare volunteers, he too was creeped out by this smile.

“Ah, sorry, I got too absorbed.” The man excused himself. “Bring those things in.” He pointed out to the building that was behind him.

“...” N1 hesitated for a bit, before making eye contact with N4, N12 and N3 to follow him with the clone girls.

They followed the man as he entered inside the building, and they met scientists that were out doing their jobs or passing by in the hallway. All had the same reaction when they saw Mia and Nia.

“...Is this?”

“It can’t be…”

“But the head scientist is with them…”

“Did we finally achieve it?”

Such were the words that filled the hallway, never finishing their phrases as N1 and his team passed by.

“I have to thank you again for bringing those subjects into such a good state…” The man ahead, the head scientist, praised N squad again as he stopped in front of a door. He opened it, letting N squad enter the room.

It was a laboratory, and diverse tools and machinery were displayed. One thing N1 noted was that most of those tools seemed to be related to DNA.

“It’s not the comfort of my laboratory on Ionian Prime 1, but it’ll do for now…” The man said as he sat on a chair and began typing on a holographic screen that appeared out of nowhere.

“...If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what is all this?” N1 asked after some time, he could not help but have a bad feeling about all this stuff.

“My research, of course.” The scientist replied, still concentrating on what he was doing. “Do you know who I am?”

“You are Doctor Michy, if I am correct.” N1 replied, he had asked his contacts some general information about the man at the head of the research center from his acquaintances before reporting in.

“Correct.” Doctor Michy nodded. “As you can see from all around you, I specialize in genetics. can you guess why I, of all people, am at the head of this research center?”

“...No, sir.” N1 answered honestly.

“Oh well, since you are commandos, and you did such an amazing job, I’ll tell you.” Doctor Michy said, it just seemed to N1 that the man just wanted to talk about his research to someone, which he did not mind since he wanted to know what in the world was all this about.

“You see, the reason why we invested so much ressources into such a small ruin exploration, so much so that we had to confront the Borkians, was very simple. Those ruins are the remnants of a clone facility. We want to gather as much data as possible to make our own clone army, and the Borkians are the same.” Doctor Michy said as the smile on his face never left him.

“...You can’t be serious, sir.” N4 denied it immediately. “This is a breach of international accords! If this is really the case, then…”

“Oh, would you look at that, somebody who knows the international accords, as expected from the commandos! Such devotion is good.” The doctor nodded. “But you see, I do believe accords between big powers are made to be breached one way or another…”

“Wh-what do you mean?” N4 asked back.

“Oh, something simple, really. The accords stipulate that nobody can make more research on creating clones from their own expertise. But it said nothing about collecting and using already made data from ancient civilizations…”

“...So this is the reason we were brought here?” N1 asked to which the doctor nodded.

“Yes, our government wants to produce clones, and the Borkians have the same idea. But now… I think we have an advantage thanks to you all…” The man smiled eerily, eyeing Mia and Nia who trembled when they sensed his gaze on them.

“...What could you possibly mean, sir?” N12 asked, wanting to get to the end of all this.

“Well, I must still verify it with a blood test, but I believe what you and your squad just caught are true, ancient clones.” Doctor Michy dropped a bombshell on N squad.

“...What?”

“Hehe, quite unbelievable, isn’t it? I too could not make sense of this at first.” the doctor laughed a bit under the gazes of the others. “But it’s the only thing that is making sense, after all, why would there be kids in the middle of nowhere?”

““...”” The members of N squad had nothing to say back to this. What doctor Michy had asked was the question they had in their head ever since they had read the report mentioning the presence of a kid with an unknown woman in a new type of armored skinsuit.

“The helmet you brought in will be useful too, it seems to be made of a new material, so I’ll pass it to a specialist for analysis.”

“N-not my helmet…” Mia whined from the side, but nobody was giving attention to her right now.

“Now then, N squad, thank you for bringing those subjects to me, I will now proceed with the experiments with my colleagues. Take some well deserved rest.” The man said to N squad, as if chasing them away, before being reminded of something. “Ah, yes, seeing as you managed to capture the subjects in such a good state, I hope you will be able to do the same thing for the adult female that appeared in the reports.”

“...We will try, sir.” N1 responded, and received a nod as an affirmation. N squad left the laboratory, but before leaving, N1 glanced back towards the supposed little clones, both noticed the look, and sent him an appealing look. None of them wanted to stay here any longer. Unfortunately for the two girls N1 had supposed were twins, he left just like that, closing the door behind him. Whatever happened to those two girls was none of his business now… That’s what he told himself.

He quickly left the laboratory with his men, and when they were finally outside, N4 spoke up.

“Hey, boss, what do you think about all of this?”

“...The higher ups have made up their minds…” N1 replied mysteriously. He had come up with his own conclusion from all of this.

“What? What do you mean?” N4 asked back.

“If they manage to do what they wish for, then we’ll all be discarded, I’m sure of this.” He said, and none of his teammates argued back, they knew it all too well. To the higher ups, they were only disposable, and could be replaced easily, as the number of unwanted children and orphans was not low within the known galaxy. They pitied the two girls they left in the hand of the devil, but they would not save them, after all…

“Good soldiers follow orders.”