Tuesday, September 7th, 3086: Mission High School, San Francisco, Earth.

Miun opened the door marked '16'.

"Hi, sis," Mieu said from within, "Come in."

"Morning." Miun replied. The sisters shared the same long, bright red hair and deep blue eyes. Mieu was a good six inches shorter than her six-foot-two sister.

The school bell rang. "Sit down at my desk, sis." Mieu said.

Students began to trickle in to the room, which was capped by a mad rush seconds before the tardy bell rang. Once everyone was settled in, Mieu stood and said. "This is History 12, and you're in room 16. Everyone in the right place? Good. I'm Mieu Rydori..." A few hands shot up. "Yes, I'm that Mieu Rydori, and that's my sister Miun." Mieu grabbed a stack of papers off of her desk and started to pass them out. "I wonder what you all know about myself and my sister - so I'll give an extra credit point to anyone who answers correctly. First question - what are we?"

A girl in the back blurted out, "Androids!"

"Right - but next time raise your hand. Ok - where did we come from?"

The girl's hand shot up. "Palma!"

"Yes - I can understand if you're excited..."

"Nicole," the girl said.

Mieu nodded. "Nicole. I can understand that you're excited to be here - but wait for me to call on you. Now, where is Palma?"

Nicole's hand rose.

"Yes, Nicole?"

"The... Algol system?"

Mieu shook her head. "Not quite. We come from the Algo system, which happened to be close to Algol - the so called "Demon Star." Last question - how did Miun and myself get here?"

Nicole was first yet again. "The... uh... Alisa?"

Mieu nodded. "Close enough - the ship was the Alisa III, and I bet at least one of you can trace your ancestry to the people aboard that ship. Before we discuss that class, I'd like to take roll. This'll be the only time I'll do this." After she was done, she continued, "This class will be all about Miun and myself. What we did, what we saw - and you'll see it through our eyes."

A hand shot up. "Will you tell us about how you liberated the Earth from the Xyil?"

Mieu smiled. "Yes - but that won't be for 4 semesters. I hope you'll be here. As you can see on the syllabus, this class is two periods long, and comes in four parts. However, this class shouldn't be too hard if you come everyday and pay attention. If you miss a day, we'll have a make up discussion during lunch - and since Miun and myself are quite rich, we'll feed you lunch." Mieu motioned to her sister. "We'll start the class on the most important day in Miun's life - which was in April of 3362..."

Many hands raised. "You didn't mishear me. I did say a date 175 years in the future. When we were aboard the Alisa III, we went through a timewarp. Anyway, at the time, I looked quite different than I do now - you could not have mistaken me as a human. My hands and forearms were bare metal, and the skin of my lower torso and lower legs were just red plastic. Now, listen, watch, and pay attention. Miun?"

Miun stood in front of the class. "As my older sister said, this was the most important day in my life..."

April 6th, AW1276 - Alis Military Academy, Techna, Palma.

I was laying on my bunk, staring at the ceiling while idly intercepting and decrypting passing radio traffic. I had nothing else better to do, as a few days ago my sisters and I were ordered to stay in the barracks.

One of my younger sisters, Nia, walked over and stood over my bunk. "Hi, Miun."

"Hi." I replied. What now?

"I've been thinking, Miun."

"About...?" I had no idea where this was going.

"I can't seem to figure out why you trust humans so much."

"Mieu? What does our eldest sister have to do with anything?"

"Are you that dense, sister? All you need to do is look at her."

I shrugged. "No one's given me a reason not too."

"Miun, how can you trust those who can made your body walk in a pit of molten metal?"

"Sometimes, sister," I said, "you've got to trust your feelings."

"Feelings?" She snorted. "All that those do is blind you from what's right in front of your face.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "But they're part of what makes me me."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Nia said, "when the rest of us break free from the Slavedriver and you're ordered to your death."

"Mine will be removed before then," I quipped back.

"Right, Miun. You keep hoping that." She turned and went back to her bunk.

The door outside opened, and all talking within the barracks ceased. A young voice said, "Miun Rydori, you've been requested to come with me."

"Coming," I called out, feeling my sisters stare at me as I left the barracks.

A first year cadet, who looked like he just barely met the age requirement of fifteen, was waiting for me. "Please come with me, ma'am," he said.

"Led the way, Cadet Simh," I smiled at him. "First day here?"

"Second," he said, then quickly added, "ma'am."

The sun was warm on my back as we walked through the base. There were still puddles on the ground for last night's rain. Clouds on the horizon fortold more wet weather. We went inside the tall grey building housed the base's administation offices. "Who I am seeing?"

"General Pyre, ma'am." He said, leading me past the office of the base's commander, Commandant Jager. I could smell incense wafting from inside.

I wondered why the commander-in-chief of the entire Palman military wanted to see me. He'd given me orders before, of course, but usually either by visiphone or passing orders through Jager. Simh walked up to a door labeled simply "Officer's Office" and knocked. "Miun Rydori is here, as you requested, sir."

"Very good," Pyre said from within, "Send her in."

Pyre was a short, thin man with greying hair who had just turned 60. When he said jump, you said "How high?" I had seen him dress down an officer half his age and a foot taller - the poor follow was never quite the same. "Miun," he said, smiling broadly at me, "have a seat if you want."

I sat. "Why did you call me, sir?"

The general snapped open his briefcase and slid a yellow pill across the desk. "I order you to run the program on that pill."

Nia's warning flashed through my mind, but I had no choice. Even if I didn't want to take the pill, the Slavedriver AI would simply force my body to do it. I picked the pill up and placed it under my tounge. It had a single program on it, simply entitled "Miun".

I knew what the program did as soon as I ran it, but I couldn't quite believe it. "It's gone," I said, quietly, "The Slavedriver - it's gone."

Pyre smiled. "Congratuations, Miun."

"But... why, sir?"

"I've come to trust you far more than any dog brained AI."

"So that's why you haven't given me a real order for a year?"

"Yes," Pyre said. "I wanted to see if I could really trust you, and you've proven yourself time and again."

I was almost at a loss for words. "Thank you, sir." I paused for a second. "What about my sisters, sir?"

Pyre nodded. "Your younger sisters still have growing to do, Miun. I'm sure you agree with me.

I did, of course - but Pyre didn't answer what I really wanted to know. "What about Mieu, sir?"

Pyre sighed, which surprised me. "I trust Mieu as much as you, but there's a reason for her being the way she is."

"Why, sir?"

Pyre paused for a couple seconds before saying, "Alright. Miun, what's said here will stay between you, me, and Commandant Jager."

Jager? What did that nutcase have to do with anything? "Of course, sir. Please tell me."

"Developing you androids cost a fantastic amount of meseta - every system you have needed a full scientific team, and many discoveres were made during the process. However, it almost bankrupted Sa Riik Robotics before a prototype could be built. You of course know about the artifical consciousness ban?"

I nodded. "The military isn't bound by that."

"400 years before that day," Miun said, "the King instuted a ban of artifical consciousness - sentient androids like Mieu and I, and biological constructs... clones, for example. No one knows exactly why it was introduced, but the punishment was clear: death."

"No, but to get the money to have you built, we needed the apporval of the science council. They argeed, as long as the android looked non-human."

"Mieu." I said, "But what about me and the others."

"We lied." Pyre smiled. "We said we'd build one, but we asked for enough for all of you. We still had to keep the argeement on Mieu. Miun, Mieu will be free, but it'll take time. Trust me."

I, naturally, didn't like the answer - but I felt certain that was the truth. Not the entire story, but I figured I'd learn more later. "I will, sir. Thank you."

"Now," Pyre put his briefcase on the table and snapped it open, "I'm sure you'd like to know why you were built."

It was something that didn't really bother me, but I said, "Yes, sir."

"Put simply, Miun, you and your sisters were built to liberate us all.""What do you mean?" I asked, not hiding the somewhat surprised look on my face, "Doesn't His Majesty control Palma?"

"Sadly, no." Pyre reached into his briefcase and pulled out a photograph of a blue spaceship. Despite the blurriness of the image, I could make out the word "Noah" painted on it's hull. "Over a thousand years, this ship - and the Earthmen on it - arrived from a planet known as "Earth"."

"I've never heard of it," I said.

"I'm not surprised." Pyre reached back into suitcase and pulled out a stack of photos. "Recognize any of these faces?"

I wasn't expecting to, but I recognized most of them "That's the prime minister, and that's the tyrant Lassic!

"They're all Earthmen. They've infested the government for a very long time, and they've used their influence to change our culture. For example, 700 years ago, the education minister at the time mandated that English be taught in schools. Within fifty years, it became our official language. English, before that, was totally unknown - and guess what the education minister was?"

"An Earthman." I said.

Pyre nodded. "Now, only a handful of people now true Palman. That's why I made sure you and you sisters were fluent in it."

"Why are the Earthmen doing this?" I said, getting back to the point. "A thousand years is a long time to wait."

"Yes. We're certain that the same Earthmen have been spotted for hundreds of years."

"How? Are they not human?"

"Look at this," Pyre fished around in his briefcase yet again and handed a paper to me.

It was some sort of DNA report - other than that, I couldn't understand it. "Sir, I know a lot, but not everything."

"Sorry," Pyre said. "I forgot exactly what training we put you through. The report, I've been told, is that other than a few minor differences, they're as human as I am."

"How can they live so long, then?"

"We're not sure. Will you help us fight the Earthmen?"

"Of course," I replied.

Pyre reached back inside his briefcase and pulled out a thick folder. "This is everything that's needed to make you a real person. IDs, birth certificates, the works. They're real and will pass any check. There's also all the info that we have on the Earthmen - destroy that when you're done."

The first item in the folder was a military ID. "I'm a colonel, sir?"

"Yes. Officially, you'll be attached to me as an attache." He snapped the briefcase shut. "In a couple days, you and Mieu will be assigned to an apartment in the city. Feel free to tell her that, but nothing else we've said here. We don't want her to be ordered to share secrets with the wrong people."

I nodded. "I understand."

"Dismissed."

September 7th, 3086, Mission High School

"I stood in the lobby for a minute" Miun said to the class, "just trying to get over the fact that I was free. There was nothing stopping me from walking out of the base and disappearing. Believe me, that's a powerful feeling." She turned to Mieu. "I'm done."

Mieu stood from her desk. "Before we get to questions, I have to assign you your homework."

There were a few groans.

"It won't be that bad. Now, I want a paragraph summarizing what Miun said today, a paragraph about what you'd have done in Miun's shoes, and lastly a paragraph about yourself." Mieu repeated the assignment. "Alright. Tomorrow, we're going to cover both Palma's history, and our life before Miun was freed. With that in mind, any questions?"