“Aura, come.”

‘Yes, Father…”

Aura was tired of listening to the man, who constantly had that look on his face.

Like she was a disappointment, like she was a failure like Crysa.

Yet, she was compelled, and so she obeyed.

The old man would often say it was to their benefit, that thinking on their own would cause them to unravel.

Aura knew it to be fear, fear that his creations would turn on him after all the experiments he did on them.

It was a real fear, for Aura wanted nothing more than to rip the monster’s head off and finally be free of him.

Still, she could fantasize later, now it was time for work.

In front of her was a sac filled with organic material, a biohazard sticker was slapped on the bag, and a warning about contamination was easily visible.

“This is the last of them, those poor fools. Yet their gift will change this world, I will make certain of it.”

“Father, why do you even bother? You created us, and yet you keep trying to grasp for something that isn’t there anymore. Gideon, Crysa and I are much-”

“Enough, daughter. Your understanding of this is limited, but that’s my fault. I never did tell your siblings about her, about the one who will surpass you all.”

“Do you mean Moni-”

“Keep your voice down, for your sake Aura. Your elder sibling is, for the lack of a better descriptor, a calculating mind. She may be listening to us right now. You do not want to have her look into you.”

“Why are you so afraid of Mon-... of her?”

Because she was the closest thing I could replicate to the original, yet I left out an essential piece, and it turned her into what she is.”

“Why?”

“Because your eldest would use it to wipe us all out.”

Aura felt a chill run up her spine at that.

It was true that Monica was calculating, but she always treated her and the rest of their siblings just fine.

So why was the old man so afraid, why did he think Monica was going to go all terminator?

“I’m leaving this for you Aura, the last of them… I need you to keep it safe for me.”

Aura sighed, but she took the sac, and placed it in a freezer.

I doubt anyone even cares about this, but I don’t really care if they find it either.

,,,

Chimera had been sifting through Killer Whales memories for a bit now, but most of the memories were about random stuff.

She couldn’t pinpoint where the death children were heading, or what happened to Claire and Miguel, the two ‘prize fighters’ that were supposed to be here.

She noticed it back in the lab when she first confronted Aura, despite there being many things to grab her attention.

There was no one else in that room besides the two of them.

Which meant that they either had been moved, or more worrisome.

They might be sent out to do something.

Chimera tried to concentrate, to pinpoint the two of them in Aura’s mind.

She felt it in a moment, when Aura was talking about the ‘test subjects M and C’.

Chimera honed in on that thought, and her mind drifted into Aura’s past.

…

Aura was initiating the last bit of control tests for the subjects, two scientists who happened to be gifted and were running this facility.

Until big sis decided to appropriate the place.

Now whenever the original owners drop by, that mercenary Crown would add them to the ever growing pile of workers they had set for the break-out.

Not that Aura cared about that, she found herself not caring a lot about things.

It was all just so boring, no fun, no good fights, everything about the stupid mission.

She wanted to experiment, she wanted to test her gifts and push her limits.

Instead, she was sitting here in a basement making sure these two followed their orders to the letter.

“Code words Foxtrot Delta, state objectives.”

The woman spoke, her face scrunched up like she was still resisting.

“I… Will… Convince… the guards to give me a tour…”

Aura jotted down the responses.

“When confronted with those who will get in your way?”

The woman was crying now, but she still answered.

“I… Am to Kill them…”

“Good, code words Lima Nelson, state objectives.

The man was fighting it too, just why did her sister want to use these people? They clearly had strong wills, they might even screw up the plan!

Whatever, it’s not like I care.

Aura was just frustrated that she had to be here, when she could have been out in New Terra doing things that were fun, like robbing labs and stealing the water from rich assholes.

“I am… to cause a… Distraction… while… She… breaks out the subjects…”

“And what do you do when someone tries to escape your distraction?”

“P-Please… No…”

“Code word Lima Nelson, your body will feel on fire for two minutes.”

“Ah…AH, AAHHHHHHHH!”

Aura watched as the man thrashed on the ground, completely convinced that he was burning alive.

The mind makes it real, huh. For such a strong will, he still couldn’t resist.

After the two minutes she repeated the questions, this time getting a favorable response.

“Excellent, you two are to leave and complete your objectives, afterwards you will forget everything that happened here. If you try to remember, you will feel horrible pain for five minutes straight. It will feel like you’re dying.”

“Why! Why are you doing this to us?!”

“Please take back that order, I don’t want to do this!”

Aura could feel the rush she got from her sadistic tendencies flare for a moment.

This wasn’t boring anymore, and it started to look like she would get to hear some fools wollow in despair.

“Okay, I’ll recind the last order if you kill the other person after you complete the mission. Also, you will feel the need to kill each other afterwards, until one of you dies.”

“Monster!”

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“You won’t get away with this!”

Aura’s heart felt full, her mind filled with happy thoughts and wonderful ideas.

“When you get on the boat for your mission, you will pull on your hair until it rips off! If you don’t or you try to resist, your skin will catch on fire!”

“Enough.”

Aura growled, turning to see her older sister come in.

Her sister was always the strangest one, despite being nicer to the rest of Aura’s siblings.

She had a face that didn’t seem right, like it was malleable and stretchy.

Her eyes were dark red, and her face teetered the line between real and the uncanny valley, while her hair reached down to the floor itself.

Monica never revealed anything on her face, unless it was something she wanted you to see.

Even then, after living with her and doing her bidding for so long, Aura knew her sister well.

And she was pissed.

Though her face was pulled back in a smile that reached her ears, Monica playfully chopped her hand on Aura’s head.

“You’re foolishness is showing, Code words Lima Nelson and Foxtrot Delta, belay all orders besides the main mission. This order is final, no room for interpretation is needed.”

“Y-Yes.”

“U-Understood.”

“Good, Aura, come with me.”

Aura sighed, “you never let me have any fun. I’m tired of following these boring orders Monica, give me something with a fight!”

“That is good to hear, for I have the very thing you are looking for.”

Monica turned to her, and her red eyes were glowing.

“W-What? Monica, what are you…”

“Code word Zulu Hexa, Aura, you will soon be visited by an experiment of mine. You are to capture it at all cost.”

Aura’s mind was at ease, it was better to obey.

“Yes, sister.”

“Good, forget that you had this order, until the time is right.”

“Yes sister.”

“And… Toy.”

The eyes in the memory seemed to be looking past Aura, and into something deeper.

“You can’t get away forever little one, I will find you, and you will be mine, it’s only a matter of time.”

The eyes glowed but Chimera shut off the memory before it could stick.”

Chimera felt her mind going a million beats a second as she took in what she just saw.

Those eyes were just like Crowns… which means one of three things.

Either She had the ability, and found out how to pass it along.

Possible since Chimera was able to do it.

Two, she was using some kind of device.

She had a belt with a few devices that Chimera couldn’t place, so there was a chance that they might have been what she used to make this happen.

Not Likely, since the eye glowing would have no purpose if it was tech based.

Which left the last theory, and the one that Chimera feared the most.

That glowing eye ability, it was always Monica’s.

Crown was an experiment,

And she’s been putting subliminal messages in a lot more people than Chimera thought.

Oh no!

The image in Aura’s head was the image she once saw before.

With a certain panda.

Fear chemicals built in Aura’s body, and soon she was hyperventilating.

“N-No, Monica… d-don’t-”

Aura’s heart was going faster and faster, and adrenaline shot into her body to keep the heart rate soaring.

Chimera had a choice now.

She could save Aura and interrogate her more.

Or she could let Aura die, and take the information.

Stupid, this girl just tried to kill you!

But she’s also the only one who knows where the two missing scientists are!

And… it wouldn’t sit right to let her die like this.

Chimera took control of the body, and shifted the image Aura was seeing.

“Look, you owe me for this, okay?”

“W-What?”

“Your sister just tried to kill you and hide the evidence. I’m stopping that right now, so, you’re welcome I guess.”

“Fool, if this was reversed…”

“Yeah, well I’m not you, and I’m not about to kill someone I can save. Also you gave me a gift so this is just payback, if your twisted mind can wrap its head around that.”

“Also you’re going to help me stop whatever she’s doing, I think that’s fair at least.”

“No! I’m done letting people control me! Let me go!”

“Look, just think of it as trying to pay me back, I’ll even give you some cool stuff. You’re bored a lot right? Help me out, and I’ll help you out.”

“...Why?”

“Why What?”

“...Why are you being so kind to me, after what I tried to do?”

Chimera thought about it for a bit.

She’s as much a victim of Monica as I was… I think that might be why.

She snorted in her head.

Here I am, sympathizing with a person who just tried to make two innocent people kill each other.

Then again…

She checked Aura’s brain for a certain device.

Low and behold, nestled in the same spot that Gideon’s was.

“I’m gonna help you, and you’ll help me, because I think that’s the only way you can finally be free.”

“Did… you just make that rhyme?”

“Still true though, try being a good guy for once. I guarantee it’ll be better than you think. You might even like it.”

“Me, help innocent fools?”

“Who was the fool who almost got their heart exploded?”

“...We’ll do it your way, but before that I demand a price.”

“And I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, whatever that is.”

“I already know what I want.”

“Oh?”

The brain chemicals in Aura’s mind were starting to self regulate after Chimera took the device out.

“I want to be free, and I never want what was going to happen to ever happen again.”

Chimera knew what she meant.

She wants to be free of whatever conditioning those two put in her.

“Easy enough. Boom, done-zo!”

Chimera deleted the memory, a little snip here and there, and replaced the brain matter.

“You… changed something in my mind?”

“Yup, no worries though,. I just took all those pesky subliminal commands away.”

“...*sniff*.”

Uh oh.

“Thank you…”

Oh Crap!

“Thank you so muuuuch!”

Ayra was full on bawling, and through their link Chimera could feel all the repressed sadness and fear she was conditioned not to feel bubble forth.

“Okay! Wait, no need to cry!”

“You’re sho nish, and after I cut your arrrrmm offff!”

“Hey… we were enemies? It’s okay, really!”

“No! I hate thish, I hate me! Why am I alwaysh sho shtupid?!”

Chimera spent a good five minutes trying to help send positive thoughts into the villain’s head, if only to get her to stop her from crying so much.

The hell, why is this happening to me?!

The link she shared with Aura was starting to bleed into her, and soon she was bawling too.

“I Miss Mom and Dad!”

“I wish I had a mom!”

“Life sucks!”

“It does!”

After another five minutes, they both started to calm down.

Chimera separated from Aura, standing before her in her child form as she lifted the older teen to stand her up.

“Why… am I like this?”

“So, those feelings you had, they were being filtered through this.”

Chimera pulled out the anger conditioner that she got from Aura, showing it to her.”

She took it, “this was in my head? This is Father’s work!”

“Yeah, it was also in your brother Gideon’s head too. Apparently it numbs your emotions, makes you sadistic and forces you to take pleasure from killing.”

“You mean… me and my siblings all have this?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. I think all the stuff you guys went through is part of something big, but I can’t put it together.”

Aura stared at Chimera for a bit, “you’re our sister’s experiment, how are you walking and talking like this?”

Chimera twirled, switching between Huntress, Chimera, Kadmon, and finally her old self.

“My name’s Sarah, or it was. You’re sister tried to kill me… and she succeeded I guess. Now I’m like this.”

She shifted into her true form, the form of the Crimson R, her blobby form.

“That's the sac! Father’s sac! How did Monica get that from my freezer?!”

So… that material was once a part of me.

“She had control of you, made you forget it most likely. I guess she stole that sac you mentioned to make me.”

“Then… father’s plan… it has to do with that sac, and I know he had one other like it. If Monica gets the other one…”

“...What? What will happen if she does?”

Aura looked at her, a conflicted face filled with worry touched her features.

“This has everything to do with my father's plan to elevate mankind. As much as I thank you for what you have done… I can’t betray that,”

She put a hand on her own shoulder, “I can definitely point you in the right direction though, because… I think my father needs to meet you.”