Chapter 1 - Part I
(Erina)
I lay back in my chair in my office.
The morning meeting hadn’t gone well. It didn’t help having Mercedes send that strange message that nobody could take seriously.
Nobody except the psychoanalyst in my team, Doctor Uma Pearson, who asked to speak with me in private.
I looked at her as the young blonde woman my age stood before my crescent shaped desk, and I tried not to sigh.
“Alright, tell me.”
“Her data indicates wild fluctuations between her personalities.”
“And how could there be a second personality. That simulacrum was blank. Its mind was blank.”
She took a deep breath. “Yes. It was blank. I didn’t word my statement properly. Sorry.”
“Fine. Then what did you mean.”
“I meant that her two identities are in conflict.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Huh?”
Uma’s mouth twisted into an odd shape, before she launched into an explanation. “Erina, you’ve put a male mind into the body of a sixteen year old girl. The simulacrum was blank, but the underlying genetics governing the structure of its brain is female because we used Mercy Haddaway as the genetic template. And, male and females of the human species have different brains.”
“I know that, Uma.”
“Then can’t you see the problem?”
“You mean fitting a square peg into a round hole? That problem?”
She looked annoyed with me. “You’re taking this too lightly.”
I swiveled in my chair and faced her directly. “That is my brother’s mind in there. I am not taking this lightly.”
“It’s not his mind. It’s a copy of his mind. A very, very detailed copy produced by a means we lack.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Then I’ll tell you something you need to accept.”
I frowned at her. “And that would be?”
Uma shook her head sadly at me. “Erina. You need to accept that your brother is lying in a regeneration tank in a facility run by House Alus Novis. Your brother is not in this realm. The only part of him here in this universe is his neural map which you downloaded and superimposed in a hurry into that female brain.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You don’t agree with what I did?”
“No. I never have.”
I tapped my desk with a fingernail. “Then why didn’t you leave the team?”
“Because I don’t turn my back on my friends…and their family…regardless of how misguided they may be.”
I turned away. “Get out.”
“No.”
“I said, get out.”
“Erina, you need to hear this!”
I stood up and glared at her. “Hear what? That the longer that copy of his mind is in there, the more female it will become? Isn’t that what you told me before?”
She nodded brusquely. “The longer it’s inside Mercedes, the less likely it can be returned to his body!”
I swallowed hard. “Maybe it’s better that way.”
She looked at me in dismay. “How can you say that?”
“Because it’s just a copy.”
“But it’s real to him—to her!”
“House Alus Novis will restore my brother to life. They’ll regenerate his body and his brain.”
“A brain which suffered detrimental decay. As a result the neural map they gave us was incomplete.”
“His core identity was not damaged. Everything that makes him the person he is, was not damaged. He may have lost memories, but nothing he can’t live without when they return him to life.”
She sucked in air slowly. “Everything that makes your brother the person he is was mapped into that girl’s mind. Your brother is still be the person he was before, but before long it will be as if he’d been born female.”
“Yes. I know that. We’ve covered that issue already. For that reason, it’s better if we can’t return the copy of his mind that’s currently in Mercedes back into his organic body.”
Uma gave me an unreadable look that turned dark. “You bitch.”
I stared flatly at her.
She grew angry. “You bitch. I can’t believe that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Why are you so angry? We’ve all considered the possibility that his mind couldn’t be reintegrated with his original body. In that event, even if he lost a year's worth of memories, wouldn’t that be better? How awkward do you think it would be for him to return to a male body after having spent a year or more as a girl?”
“Then what happens to Mercedes?” She shouted the question at me, almost forcing me to take a step back.
I saw anger and disbelief warring on Uma’s face, and decided to tread carefully.
She glared at me with a furious light in her eyes. “What happens to Mercedes once your brother is regenerated and awakened. What happens to her when he’s brought back to life? You’re going to have your brother and Mercedes around. How do you think they will cope? How do you think she will cope?” Uma raised her chin at me. “Or don’t you care?”
I swallowed and cleared my dry throat.
“That girl is not my brother. She’s a Simulacrum that we took and upgraded with the Angel Fibers. She’s not human. She’s not family. What do we do with items that outlast their purpose?”
Uma was breathing short and fast. “You would dispose of her without a second thought?”
“She is not family, Uma. She is a product. Nothing more. All I want is my brother back, and that’s what I’ll have. And I will use Mercedes to make that possible. She is a tool—a means to an end. Nothing more and nothing less.”
Uma moved so fast she surprised me. With one sweep of her hand, she cleared half the contents of my desk onto the floor, and then leaned onto my table as though heartbeats away from leaping over it.
When she spoke, it was through clenched teeth. “You look that girl in the eyes, and you tell me afterwards that she’s nothing but a product—nothing but the fusion of the organic with the inorganic—a biomechanical lifeform. I dare you to do that after looking into her eyes.”
I leaned toward her. “When this project was initiated, you promised me you would keep your personal feelings out of it. You lied to me.”
“She is not a product, Erina. She is a girl. She is a sixteen year old girl.”
“She is two weeks old. Not even that.”
“Her genetics say otherwise and so does her mental profile.” Uma looked ready to strike me. “That is a living, breathing teenage girl. She may have the mind of a male, but soon, inevitably, it will adapt to its environment. That girl is your cousin, whether you like it or not. The minute you imprinted his mind into that simulacrum, you turned something lifeless into a living entity. You gave it a mind, a consciousness, and a will of its own.”
I wanted to throw something at the glass surrounding my office.
I wanted to break something…because I knew Uma was correct.
My throat grew tight, and I planted my palms on my desk, leaning upon it heavily as I fought back the despair welling up inside me. It strangled my voice, dragging it down to a whisper.
“If only he’d been my sister, and not my brother, the return imprint wouldn’t have been so complicated.”
“Your brother in other realm—the other universe—is not the issue. Mercedes is the issue, and what will happen to her if and after she wins the Princess Royale. What happens to that girl after that? Will you really dispose of her?”
I looked up at Uma. “Mercedes’ fate is not in my hands. Her disposal is not up to me. It’s up to them. House Alus Novis will determine what happens to her when her usefulness is at an end.”
Uma closed her eyes, then squeezed them shut, but it didn’t stop the tears that ran down her face. “I cannot do this, Erina. I cannot abide with this. It is not a disposal. It is murder.”
“She’s not human, Uma. You can only murder someone that’s human.”
“That is pure sophistry, Erina!”
I straightened and yelled, “Then what would you have me do?”
“Protect her. Don’t abandon her. For the love of everything that is good in you, don’t abandon that girl because she needs you! For better or worse that child is your cousin! She is a part of your family.”
I palmed my face and turned away from her, reaching out to the glass wall of my office overlooking the circular lab below.
I palmed my face so that she wouldn’t see my tears.
But I couldn’t block out her words.
“We gave her life, Eri. We all played a part in her development. Please. Don’t tell me that girl doesn’t mean anything to you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, but I couldn’t stop my tears.
The moment I saw her in the rain, standing on the highway sidewalk, I knew that she was alive.
In that moment, she ceased to be a simulacrum, and my mind accepted her as a living teenage girl.
I covered my face, and I sobbed into my palms.
I felt Umi’s arms around me, turning me around so that I could cry against her shoulder.
I buried my face into her shoulder, muffling my cries. Eventually when I ran out of tears, her shoulder muffled my dry sobs.
It was a long while before I recovered any of my voice, but I managed to squeeze out a few words.
“…what have I done…Umi…what have I done…?”
“You gave life to a very beautiful girl.”
My breathing was ragged, and though I was out of tears, it was a struggle to calm down.
I swallowed a few times, and whispered, “Forgive me God, for I have sinned….”
Uma’s arms tightened about me, and she swayed me gently. “We have both sinned…but we can both make this right.”
I drew back from her gently, and saw that her eyes were as red as mine felt.
But she was thoughtful. “You called them Angel Fibers for a reason.”
I nodded. “Yes.”
She added a smile to her thoughtful look. “Why was that?”
She knew the answer, yet she was asking me so that I wouldn’t forget.
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I swallowed and straightened while drawing back a little more. “Because they came from an Angel…at least…that’s what its remains resembled.”
“Maybe it was an Angel. And if so, I choose to believe that God won’t abandon that girl. I choose to believe that God won’t allow us to abandon her…or your brother.”
My breathing continued to grow less ragged and calmer.
Uma released me from her embrace. “Eri, listen to me. The change won’t happen overnight. It will be gradual. Very gradual.”
I swallowed again, and allowed a shudder to run through me, rather than hold it back. “How long? How long before his mind adapts?”
She sighed and glanced away for a long contemplative moment. “In all my simulations…even with outside influences such as his school life, and his interactions with people”—she shook her head slowly—“the first noticeable changes didn’t manifest until six months at the earliest.”
“Six months?” I wanted to cry again. “That’s too soon. He needs to win that damn Princess Royale and be crowned Gun Empress. That will take a year.”
“Eri, listen. Those were just predictions. Worst case predictions. Seventy percent of the simulations indicated his mind wouldn’t start becoming feminine for eight to nine months. And even then, there was something else we need to consider.”
I shook my head weakly. “What?”
“The Simulacrum’s brain is genetically female, but it’s not exactly human. As a result, it’s more pliant, which means that Ronin’s mind could end up influencing his female brain. His neural map could end up rewriting Mercedes’s neural matrix to suit him rather than her.”
“Why is that a problem? He would remain male in mind then.”
“If the process doesn’t progress along far enough, it could be a problem because it could result in a mutated form of gender dysphoria where his mind and body flip-flop between wanting to be female and wanting to be male.”
I felt faint and reached for my chair but Uma grabbed my arm and held me upright.
“Eri, there is third possibility. Your brother’s mind—his neural map—could end up an amalgam of both. He could end up asexual. Neither a male nor female mental model but something gender neutral.”
I stared at her in faint horror, and began shaking my head at her. “No. No, I won’t allow that. I’d rather his mind became female in that case. I’d rather find a way to protect Mercedes, and not attempt to integrate Ronin’s mind into his original body.” I swallowed hard. “And that’s even with the assurance that they will return his body to me.”
Uma frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s not exactly something we can go to court over. I have no leverage over House Alus Novis. Also, do you think the Telos Corporation’s upper echelons would support me if House Alus Novis chose to forfeit on their end of the bargain to me? Would they even care? To them it’s about the research. They want to know what the Angel Fibers can do for their interests.”
“In other words, the military applications.”
I nodded tightly. “Of course. Humanity decided to stamp its mark in the galaxy, and as a result we pissed off some of those little grey men. Most of them didn’t care what we did, but some of them did. And now the Commonwealth of Colonial Systems is having to back up their tough stance with some real military muscle.”
Uma’s jaw clenched for a heartbeat. “Eri, you don’t have to remind me. I have two older brothers, remember? Right now, they’re out there aboard an Archon Epsilon class superfortress patrolling our borders. They’re inside a mile long mountain of metal and armor and guns.”
I bowed my head. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be. You didn’t say anything wrong. I know the value of the Gun Princesses. I know what they could mean to our military.”
I nodded faintly. “And so do the people on the other side of the multiverse bridgeway. But I don’t believe they care much about what happens to us on this side—in this universe.”
“Not surprising.”
“But I believe they care about what happens to the Gun Princesses.”
Uma eye’s searched mine. “What are you saying?”
“The Telos Corporation wants to know what military applications the Angel Fibers possess. But they’re terrified of this research being leaked so only our division knows of the Fibers.”
Uma looked confused. “But their research is out there walking and talking in the body of a sixteen year old girl. If they’re so terrified of being discovered, why would they allow something like that to happen?”
I stepped closer to her. “Because of House Alus Novis.”
Uma frowned faintly. “Go on.”
“Jive has been sneaking peaks at the other side.”
“How?”
“By using Simon as a medium…or host.”
“What?”
I stepped closer to her and lowered my voice. “Look, I can’t tell you much. All I can say, is that an element of Jive has been travelling back and forth with Simon. Every time Simon crosses over to meet with us, that piece of Jive relays information back to big Jive who’s been putting it together in secret.”
Uma frowned and narrowed her eyes. “And what has it found out?”
“That the Gun Princesses are more than just competitors. They are House Champions. The Houses of the Alus and Bravita Tiers are using the Princesses to jostle for power and position. Those girls, machine or otherwise, are of great value to the Houses of the Terran Imperium.”
“So what’s your point?”
“That House Alus Novis has leverage over the Telos Corporation, and they’ve decided that Mercedes serves them best by having her out there experiencing life, rather than locked away. And they’ve twisted the Corporation’s arm, forcing them to agree with their point of view.”
Uma bit her lower lip for a moment. “That’s awfully…benevolent of them.”
“Yes, it is.” I took a long breath. “Umi, I believe House Alus Novis could turn out to be Mercedes’ best chance for survival…in the event that I cannot return her mind into my brother’s body. It could be a stretch. I could be wrong. But my gut—my woman’s intuition—is telling me that girl has a future with them. A future she may not have with us.”
Uma ran her tongue over her lips. “I see. You could trade Mercedes for your brother.”
“Yes, and thus keep them both alive.”
I watched my best friend since our days at the Academy step over to the glass wall overlooking the laboratory.
“Eri…we keep this a secret from the others in the team.”
“Yes. That would be safest.”
She nodded faintly. “Good, because I don’t trust them. So I’ve decided to use the means at my disposal to watch over them. I could do with Jive’s help.”
At that moment the cube winked to life inside a holovid bubble.
“Doctor Pearson, am I to assume you have Mercedes’ best interests in mind?”
Uma turned around and regarded the purple and pink cube that occasionally flashed orange.
“Yes. I do.” She crossed her heart. “Or so help me God.”
I released a heavy breath, then turned my head to regard Jive.
The cube had taken on a faintly golden aura, though its walls had turned gunmetal grey. Jive spoke in a very formal tone. “Very well. As you watch over us, I will watch over you. I will not tolerate betrayal.”
Uma smiled. “Neither will I, Jive.”
The cube’s golden aura turned pink. “Then we are in agreement.”
I spoke to the cube, concerned by its gunmetal sides. “Jive, is something wrong?”
“Yes. Something unexpected has occurred to Mercedes.”
I frowned and hesitated to ask, remembering what happened back at the meeting. “What’s she complaining about now?”
“She is not complaining, Doctor Kassius. She is unconscious in the infirmary.”
Uma’s mouth fell open, and I felt my heart stop for a good long second.
“Jive—what happened to her?”
“Something no one considered. Something so obvious about her circumstances that it eluded me as well.”
“What Jive? What? Tell me!”
“The neural headset employed at the Academy—at all the academies—had a detrimental effect on her neural matrix. She was knocked unconscious and was thus taken to the Academy’s infirmary.”
“Oh, my gods.” I threw off my lab coat and hurried past Uma to where I’d hung my suit’s dark grey jacket. “Jive, can you wake her up?”
“I will try. I have been trying. However, I am running out of time and need your assistance.”
“You need to get her out of the infirmary. They can’t scan her body.”
“I will continue to attempt waking her, but she may be too weak to leave of her own volition. As I said, I need your assistance.”
I searched around for my purse and my car keys. I would forgo using my driver and operate the car myself. I found both items on the floor.
Uma knelt and began placing items back on the desk. “I’m sorry. I’ll fix this up.”
“Thank you. I need to call the Academy and tell them I’m on my way.”
Jive said, “I can do that for you. I will impersonate your secretary and ring them on your behalf.”
“No, you worry about waking up Mercedes—I mean Cassidy.”
“As you wish.”
I left the office in a hurry, rushing for the elevator at the far end of the lab, fear pushing my heart up into my throat.
As her registered Citizen Guardian, I was responsible for Cassidy, and the Academy wouldn’t question my sudden appearance at the school. The problem would be explaining how I found out about her condition.
As I waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive, I prayed that no one discovered Cassidy was not your average sixteen year old girl.
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Authors note: rewritten to clear up confusion regarding the subject of the conversation. This part was initially released too early. As it is now, it reads the way I originally intended for it.
Thank you.