Sophia circled the Major slowly, regarding her stance and posture as she did. The Major was the picture of casual poise, relaxed and confident in her abilities. She tried not to think about how her stomach fluttered when the woman smiled. Sophia darted forward, ducking under a right cross, hammering her fist into the Major’s stomach as she did.

The woman didn’t even flinch, her smirk unmoved as she grabbed Sophia by the arm and flipped her down onto the mat. She gasped, the air driven from her lungs on impact. It hurt, but the New Wave bitch laughing wasn’t doing her ego any favors. The Major held out a hand, and Sophia accepted the help up.

“Fuck, is there even a point to this?” she asked, wincing at how her voice wheezed. “You’re a damn Brute and combat thinker, how do I compete with that?”

“By not fighting me directly,” the Major said. “Fight smarter, attack joints, leverage your own talents to either delay or topple.”

“Easy for you to say,” Sophia grumbled, but stood back up.

It was the same lessons that the Major had been drilling her on since they started sparring over a month ago. Normally she would be more on top of things, but now she knew that the Major was Hebert, and everything felt different between them. She kept looking for similarities, something that would allow her mind to accept it as the truth, yet nothing fit.

“Kick her ass, Taylor!” Panacea yelled.

Right, the woman sparring with her was somehow also the girl she had tormented for the better part of two years. Hebert herself had said as much during a rather heated argument two days ago, all because the Major had jumped her over a snide comment she couldn’t even remember.

Somehow that still didn’t feel right, even if the Major didn’t deny it. None of her interactions with the Major felt like Hebert. Even when both of them were in the same room, they acted like distinct individuals rather than one person playing two parts.

Didn’t stop shit from being weird.

Sophia had admired the Major, loved how she could operate without any of the stupid rules that the PRT forced upon her. She remembered the times spent on rooftops during the quiet nights, time spent bantering over cheap takeout and bad jokes.

Taylor acted nothing like her, even when she was presenting herself as Cyber, they were as different as could be. She couldn’t regard them as the same person, because that would mean she had feelings for Hebert. Looking at Hebert, who was standing beside Panacea, none of those feelings stirred within her.

“Eyes on me,” the Major said. Sophia was manhandled, and slammed to the mat in the same motion, the distraction having cost her. “Situational awareness is all well and good, but never get so distracted that your enemy can do what I just did.”

“Yes ma’am,” she said.

“Alright, try again,” the Major said.

And so she did, over and over until her everything hurt. Through it all, the Major traded that same banter she had through all their joint patrols over the last few weeks, as if nothing had changed. It was surreal, and she wanted so badly to call Hebert’s bluff on the Major’s identity. That was until the Major paused mid-strike and looked at Taylor.

“Stay with Sophia,” Hebert said. “I can take care of it.”

“If you’re sure,” the Major said, hesitantly.

Hebert left a moment later, and Panacea approached, holding out her hand. Sophia rolled her eyes then allowed the healer to do her work. Sophia didn’t like anyone in New Wave, they were all assholes, and yet, maybe there was hope for one of them. It certainly had to tweak more than a few noses that the golden healer went rogue.

Panacea let go of her hand and frowned. “I turned up your natural healing and general metabolism. It’s unfortunate your power clashes with other upgrades. Surgeon has some fun ones she could give you.”

“Yeah, yeah, my power sucks,” Sophia said, barely repressing a snarl. “I’ve had that ground into my head for weeks. If you’re done trying to get a reaction out of me, could you kindly fuck off?”

Panacea snorted, but promptly fucked off as asked. Once she was gone, Sophia slumped down, hands coming up to rub at her face. A moment later a Gatorade hovered in front of her. She accepted it, the Major taking a seat on the mat next to her as she drank it. A power bar followed and she wasn’t about to turn it down given how hungry she always was after being healed.

“Your power doesn’t suck,” the Major said after a moment. “Remember when you swept into the staircase and saved my ass? You were invaluable there. It’s amazing for infiltration, an asset in most fights, and frankly, I wish I could replicate it.”

Sophia felt her cheeks warm, and forced herself to look away. She hated that she felt like some blushing little girl around the Major, and feared that it was all some elaborate setup that Hebert was pulling as revenge for everything she had done to her over the past two years. If that was the case, Emma would have loved the girl that she turned her former friend into.

Pity she had moved away without explanation and broke all contact.

Sophia missed her friend, even if she had gone a bit loony in the end, she just never expected Hebert to actually hit her like that. Hebert may not have actually broken her jaw that day, but she broke something. Sophia suspected Hebert knew where Emma was, but Sophia was just afraid to confirm it for herself.

“Thanks,” Sophia said, staring at the wrapper and empty bottle in her hands. She played with them for several moments before sighing. “Be honest with me, how much of the Major is an act for you?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Major paused, almost literally. Her breathing was perfectly paced, automated most likely. She didn’t want to look her in her eyes, see what might be looking back at her. Sophia had opened the box, and whatever was in there wasn’t going to be sealed up again.

“It’s hard to say,” the Major said after a moment. “I started as a persona that Taylor affected for my shell, but I’ve become something more, something separate. When Taylor was gunned down, I think that’s where it happened, or at least the catalyst for it. She was so distant and silent, almost as if she was fading away, yet I was still there. I think, no, I am my own person now. I’m just figuring out who she’s going to be.”

Sophia could only blink at the heartfelt declaration, and more so, what did that even mean? She started as Taylor but wasn’t anymore? What did that make Taylor then? Had the girl broken so much mentally that she was literally creating imaginary friends so she wouldn’t be alone? Was the Major one of them?

“The way Melissa explained it, I am part of a plural existence. Taylor and I are the same person in a way, and yet we are separate people. We can hold separate conversations, or ones where we can sort of pull the twin act, but not quite as cleanly as before. She isn’t a killer, yet I won’t hesitate to put bullets into someone deserving. Maybe it started as a way to distance herself from the violence, or to avoid thinking about working with you, but regardless, I am here. I am alive.”

That sounded completely insane to Sophia, hell, it reminded her of the briefing about the Nine and the Butcher. A split personality? She was falling for some broken aspect of Hebert’s mind? She didn’t want to think about that, to consider that one of the few people that showed her respect, that treated her as someone worthy, could be some fractured soul.

“I think, as time goes on, the divide between who we are will only grow,” the Major said. “Taylor wants nothing to do with you, it’s part of how I came to be, she disassociated each time I met you. She’s currently talking to Lisa and Jacob about something that I might have to step in on. She’s dating Lisa, yet Lisa doesn’t feel like she’s my girlfriend.”

Sophia bit her lip. The Major had all but admitted she wasn’t interested in Taylor’s girlfriend and she hated that she felt a spark of hope while considering that. Emma had been disappointingly straight, Madison was fun for a fling but they weren’t compatible otherwise. Would the Major end up a similar disappointment?

Watching the badass merc act nervous and vulnerable, felt oddly intimate. Like she was showing Sophia a side of herself that she didn’t normally reveal. In all their patrols and the time spent together, the Major hadn’t once shown a flicker of doubt or hesitation. She played the role of a former military girl all too well, but that was all it was, a role she played.

Yet, she played it better than most military forces she had observed in action, including Coil’s hired guns. She had taken the cover story Taylor crafted for her and made it her own. Regardless of anything, the Major was there, she was real. It might lead to a broken heart, but Sophia wanted to believe, to trust one more time.

She looked up, the Major was looking away, almost as if she was somewhere else, which given her cybernetics, meant she might actually have been somewhere else. She knew that Taylor’s actual brain was in the Major’s head, and the girl could split herself perfectly. She knew what she wanted to do, but she wasn’t sure it was the smart thing to do.

Yet, Sophia didn’t much care.

“Major?” she asked.

The Major blinked, returning her attention to Sophia. As soon as she looked down at her, she moved, lifting herself up just enough to close the distance and captured the Major’s lips with her own. That same pause fell over the Major and she felt dread creep down her spine like ice.

Sophia fucked up.

She fucked it up and now it was all going to fall apart on her once again. She broke contact, ready to retreat, the one thing her power was good for. Her breaths turned shallow, wetness pricked at her eyes and she just wanted to be anywhere else. Just as she moved to stand, the Major grabbed her wrist. Sophia braced herself for something painful as she was pulled back down, then she froze.

The Major pulled her back in, and this time, kissed her back.

Sophia felt herself melt, bubbling laughter rising up alongside the tears. The Major hadn’t rejected her, she was returning her affection. Her heart was hammering in her chest, she felt her stomach fluttering. It was everything she imagined when she thought of kissing someone she actually cared about.

She wasn’t sure how long it took, but eventually the Major pulled back. Sophia was panting from the exertion, but she cherished the fading sensations.

“Next time, ask first,” the Major said. “But, I’m happy.”

“You are?” Sophia asked.

“I was afraid, you know?” the Major began. “That because I started out as part of Taylor, you would never consider the possibility of us becoming a thing. You have no idea how scared this conversation made me. I’ve been dreading it ever since I accepted that I’m my own person, not held to who Taylor was, who she is now. Thank you, you’ve made me so—”

“Major…”

“Motoko,” the Major said. “My name. It’s Motoko Kusanagi. That was the name given to me, and after a lot of thought, I think I’m going to keep it.”

Sophia smiled, wide and genuine. “It suits you, Motoko.”

“And a smile suits you, Sophia,” she answered. “I hope I can see it a lot more in the future, if you’ll let me.”

Sophia choked up, her emotions thick and cloying. How could Motoko be anything but a real person? There was no way something false could have captured her heart so effectively. She leaned forward and captured her lips once more, brief and fleeting, all so she could give her answer in full.

“Always.”

Motoko rested her forehead on Sophia’s and she radiated at the moment, not caring who might have seen them, even as a throat cleared. She looked up and saw Hebert standing there, with Tattletale at her side. Hebert for once looked almost livid, a rare showing of emotion from the stoic Tinker, but Tattletale was struggling to not laugh.

Taylor huffed, and left the room, but Tattletale didn’t follow right away. Instead, she walked over to them, then held out a closed fist. Motoko regarded it for a moment, then bumped it with her own.

“Grats, Motoko,” Tattletale said with a grin.

She smiled back. “Thanks Lisa. I wasn’t sure how you would react given…”

“What you started as doesn’t matter, what matters is who you are now, and what you do with the life you have,” Tat— Lisa said. “That said, I feel I need to give Sophia here a warning. Do anything to hurt Taylor again, I’ll leave you so broken even the Butcher will have less voices in their head.

Sophia swallowed heavily, the warning quite explicit. Motoko glared at the Thinker, but didn’t argue against the warning. It was warranted after all, given what Sophia had done to the girl for far too long.

Lisa smiled wider, and Sophia felt a chill run down her spine before Lisa’s attention returned to Motoko. “So, what are you going to do next?”

Sophia barely had time to consider the question before Motoko moved, pulling Sophia into yet another kiss. It was all the answer that was needed.