Summer Rose stared in silent contemplation at the older man in a white lab coat for about a minute, before shutting her eyes and breathing out a small, barely audible sigh.
"So... what's this going to cost me?" She inquired, taking a moment to actually take in the bright, stark white room around her and the bright light blue lights illuminating it ever so subtly. "I'd imagine cloning someone isn't a cheap procedure, especially if they're-"
"Your infertility does not complicate the procedure, ma'am, I'm pleased to report." The man said with a polite gesture for her to take a seat in front of his desk. His voice was deep, with a slight hint of an atlesian accent. "And all it will cost you, yourself, is a few liters of blood, ten, to be exact, though obviously over the course of a year, in some cases, two."
Summer took a moment to think on her own quietly, before looking over to her husband, Taiyang, and her stepdaughter Yang for a moment, smiling fondly at the two. She was about to speak again, after taking a seat, but before she could, Tai had spoken first...
"Wait, why would she need to donate so much blood? I thought it only takes ten nanoliters to make a clone with strong genes?" He spoke with an inquisitive tone. The doctor simply smiled before answering.
"It's simply the price. The remaining amount of blood is simply for a sort of... project, that the Atlesian Military is undertaking. Should you accept, you will be privy to this knowledge, though it must remain... confidential." The doctor stated, before the couple shared a look of intrigue and slight concern. "I can assure you, given the current treatment of clones in today's society, what they're doing is completely moral."
"Well... okay I guess. If it's not gonna cost us anything but a little blood, I guess there's no harm in it... on one condition." Summer said, getting a curious look out of the good doctor.
"Might I inquire as to what that may be?" He spoke, a look of curiosity spreading across his face.
"Many people clone themselves for things such as free labor, and they have them modified to age twice, even three to four times as fast. I want the first clone for myself. Unmodified." Summer declared, narrowing her eyes and sharpening her tone. The doctor just smiled and nodded.
"Of course, of course. As per usual, the first clone, the one you're taking in as your daughter, I presume? We will use a full milliliter for as opposed to a normal ten nanoliters... but are you entirely sure you want her unmodified? Modification isn't restricted to quickened aging, you know." He stated.
"...explain, please?" Tai pressed, receiving a nod from the doctor.
"Modification can do a variety of things, they fall into several specific categories, with some being that you're able to combine traits, others not. Keep in mind, many of these traits may give your child an advantage or disadvantage over her peers later on in life, dependent on what you choose. It's all detailed in a set of charts we've made." He explained, eliciting small 'oh's from the two lovers.
"Very well then," Summer continued, "show us these modification charts."
The doctor pulled up five different charts on his data pad, all color coded and properly labeled. The first one was an orange chart, with several boxes in it. "This first box is physical attributes. You can make her stronger or faster, weaker or slower, bigger or smaller breasts even, or you can leave her unmodified." He two parents frowned at the third statement, and evoked an exasperated sigh from the doctor. "I'm just running through standard procedure, guys, no need to adopt such a hostile look."
The two grunted in slight dissatisfaction, before nodding for him to continue.
The next chart was colored yellow, with several more boxes filling it in. "This one is mental. You can limit her individuality, make her more docile, or you can heighten her individuality beyond that of a normal human, make her more aggressive, etc. You can even tweak what she will later like or dislike, should you so choose to make such a choice."
The third box was blue, with twelve boxes in it. "This one is senses. You can choose to tweak any given sense, make it stronger or weaker, or you can choose to improve or weaken all senses, though it won't have as profound effect as picking a single sense.
The third one was pink, though this time instead of boxes they were hearts. "Now, I know this is the last thing either of you will want to be thinking about as parents, but if the child takes after you at all, Taiyang, this might be very important later on. Here, you can choose to make her fertile or infertile, naturally lubricated or unchanged, or have more capacity for ease with larger-"
"We get it, we get it!" Both parents blurted out with furious looks on their faces, Tai covering up his daughter's ears.
"Apologies, just another bit of procedure, I'm sure you understand... you can chose two traits here. If you do not mark for fertile or infertile, it'll be random. If you don't chose for one of the other two, it'll naturally be a "no." Anyways, moving on..."
He then pulled up the last chart, this one black with boxes like the original three.
"This last one is the area where you're gonna want to pay the most attention. You can choose to give the child one special trait, unrelated to aura or semblance. You have the capacity for heightened combative capacity, heightened technical capacity, or heightened... y'know, given your reaction the previous two times anything sexual was brought up, it may be best to just leave this one out... or you can lower her capacity for a certain area. However, you cannot choose more than one, as that can, and will, kill the clone in her infancy."
The two parents nodded slowly, before quietly discussing between themselves...
"Well... let's start with the first, Tai, which do you think is most important?" Summer said in a low, hushed voice.
"Well, if she works out enough, she won't need the extra strength, but speed is something that will serve her well anywhere she goes." Taiyang replied, getting a nod of agreement with the girl. "What about... uh... brea-"
"Let's make em bigger." Summer said with a mischievous smirk.
"Wha?! Why?!."
"I want my daughter to one-up Raven." She confidently answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"...alright... now, mental... I'm thinking heightened individuality, but let's not tweak anything else." Summer simply grinned in agreement. "Now, senses..."
"HEIGHTEN ALL THE SENSES."
"Welp, If upper management says so... now, dear god, I'm gonna hate this, but... sexual?" Taiyang gulped, getting Summer to scratch her chin in thought...
"Well, I'd rather my daughter be able to conceive, should she so choose... and lubrication would save her time and money, and likely make whatever venture she does get into more pleas-."
"I cannot believe you just said that, Summer." Taiyang deadpanned, interrupting her and getting the girl to just shrug nonchalantly.
"And for the last, she should have heightened combat capacity." Taiyang nodded in agreement, looking to his daughter.
"No arguments here. She takes after us in the slightest, it's an obvious choice... alright then!" Taiyang said, giving a thumbs up and looking to the doctor.
"You've made your choices?" He asked, pushing the data pad towards them.
"Yes, we have. I'll select them..." Summer responded, taking the pad from the doctor. After about a minute, she smiled in satisfaction, before sliding the pad back to the good doctor.
"I take it this is all then?" The doctor inquired, retrieving his data pad.
"Yes, this is all. How long until we can expect our daughter?" Summer inquired, batting her eyelashes cutely.
"Once you've given your first donation of blood, your daughter will be ready to emerge from the pod a full newborn in the average time it would take to conceive after impregnation. However, the rest of the batch will be ready out of the pod within half the time."
"The rest of the batch?" She said curiously.
"Why of course! As soon as you've given us your first donation, you'll see what I mean..."
They followed the doctor to a sort of medical bay where Summer was asked to lay down on a medical bed so they could draw her blood. After that was done, they gave the girl a water bottle and the doctor gestured the two to follow.
"I'm going to let you know, the only reason we're doing this is because you, Mrs. Rose, are such a renowned huntress. Normally, we'd only take a milliliter for a single Clone then call it a day, but you're a special case." The doctor said as they walked down the halls.
"How do you mean?" The girl of subject asked.
"The Atlesian Military wants a new standing army to replace the current force. People get cloned all the time, but very rarely do we get a hunter or huntress, even less often do we get one with such a reputation as your own. And we've never, ever gotten anyone with silver eyes come through here. You're the perfect fit for what we need."
"Oh... I see. What about their training, then?"
"The Atlesian Military is willing to pay a great sum of money, should you decide to oversee their training personally, after all, your reputation isn't earned for no reason." The doctor finished, stopping before some metal garage door-looking blinds. "If you're wondering about equipment, the Schnee Dust Corporation is backing this army, equipment-wise. Additional trainers are already on their way to the facility to begin the process of getting these soon-to-be soldiers ready for war."
"I see... how much is the Military willing to pay for my services? I do still have a family to maintain." Summer inquired, only receiving a ghost of a smile for the doctor.
"I am not privy to such knowledge, only how many zeroes there are behind the first digit before any decimals are involved."
"Hmm..." She stood in thought for a moment, before looking to Taiyang as if looking for an answer in her partner.
"Honey, if you think this is best, then I have no reason to doubt your judgement. Never lead us astray as a team. I'll trust whatever judgement you make." Taiyang said, a warm smile spreading across his face as he rested a hand on her shoulder.
Bowing her head and closing her eyes, she smiled as she thought about it. She did not expect this to be how she would pass on her legacy, but she'd be damned before an opportunity this good passed her up.
"Alright, I'll do it!" Summer declared boldly, a fire in her eyes.
The doctor nodded quietly, before touching a small panel on the wall and raising the upper half of the blinds and lowering the lower half. Yang, Taiyang and Summer all gasped as they several saw massive spires, all brimming with cloning pods...
"Wow..." was all Summer could say, taken aback by the sheer scale of it.
"Mommy, Mommy! Is this how many sisters I'm gonna have?" Yang asked innocently, tugging on the ends of her stepmother's cloak. She simply laughed, before ruffling the small girl's hair and looking ahead. There were so many pods, she couldn't count...
It was magnificent.
"With the amount of blood you've volunteered to donate, we'll have enough material to make one billion clones. However, this facility can only produce some one hundred thousand in a single batch. The other facilities produce the same amount." The doctor explained, making their eyes widen even more.
"One hundred thousand?!. That would triple the size of the military!" Taiyang exclaimed, looking bewildered.
"Three hundred thousand, technically. There's three facilities."
"Yeah, yeah... but that's... that's crazy!"
"Perhaps. The Atlesian Military is only calling for six million, at the immediate moment, and we're producing one of the first Legions for ourselves. A necessary defensive force, I'm sure you understand."
"Right... but what's this army for, anyways? We're not at war." Summer cut back in, seizing the attention once more.
"Not yet. Relations, though they won't say in the media, have been degrading with the empire across the Phantom Sea. Military experts believe War is imminent in ten to sixteen years." A new voice cut in, this one feminine, sounding older than the doctor. They cast their attention back to where the voice came from, to behold a wolf faunas with a chip taken out of her right ear, and a single scar running diagonally down her face. "I'm Lara Sue, head director of this cloning facility. Welcome to Astra city." She said cooly, sauntering towards the couple.
"Ah, Director! I see you've graced us with your presence?" The doctor exclaimed, though was promptly ignored by the woman in question.
"I see you're our donor?" The girl said, less as a question and more as a statement, looking directly at the woman in question.
"Yes, I suppose that would be me. Summer Rose." Summer introduced herself to the director, extending her hand.
"A pleasure." The Director met the handshake. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've much work to do now."
As suddenly as she had arrived, the director had left, leaving the four in the room to idly wonder what the coming months would bring...
The nine months breezed by in what seemed a heartbeat, leading the two parents and their daughter back to the facility to receive their newborn daughter. The night was dark and stormy, though predictably so, given the nature of the location of the three cities. Lightning danced across the sky, and thunder roared down from the heavens. the heavy downpour was far too intense for a normal umbrella, so the family instead donned cloaks to shield themselves from the intensity of the rain.
Yang was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. She was going to have a sister, and that was a very exciting concept for the energetic blonde. Taiyang and Summer were more composed, though no less excited. They could only imagine how she would be, what she'd become, and all the good she might some day do.
After briskly jogging across the bridge after departing from the shuttle, the family hastily entered into the facility and hung their rain-soaked cloaks up on the racks along the wall. The hall was empty, only occupied by two officers, of which neither moved to try to halt their entry. They were well aware of who they were, and didn't dare try to stand in their ways as the trio stalked down the stark white hallway.
Exiting into some sort of main room with two chairs that dropped down from the ceiling, they were greeted by the wolf faunas, Ms. Sue, who had so abruptly left their presence the previous few times they had been there to give blood.
"Ah, Mrs Rose, Mr. Xaio Long. Welcome back to Astra City. I take it you're here to receive your child?" She stated, more statement than question.
"Yes, that we are. Where is she?" Taiyang blurted out in response. The director simply huffed through her nose with closed eyes, a clear sign of annoyance, before snapping her fingers. A single droid entered into the room, holding an open pod in its hands. Said pod carried a single, wrapped, newborn infant. The baby was asleep, and had not a single hair on its head yet, though Summer immediately warped over and began fawning over it.
"Awww! She's so cute! Tai! what are we gonna-" Summer began, only to get cut off by the director before she could finish...
"This is CT-01-00001. She's augmented for larger breasts, enhanced speed, heightened individuality, heightened senses, fertility, lubrication, and enhanced combative capacity. This is what you wanted, yes?" The lady said, elicting a small frown from Taiyang, and an eye roll from Summer for her rude interruption.
"Yes, this is all we wanted... now..." Taiyang began. "What to name her?"
"Well..." Summer replied, lifting the newborn infant and cradling her in her arms. "How about..."
She stopped for a moment, before actually thinking about it. She began sifting through pleasant memories, stories she'd heard, adventures she'd been on...
Then she remembered it. Her favorite tale as a child growing up, about a small girl in a red cloak who'd brought baked goods to her grandmother and was stalked through the woods by a big bad wolf. She was pretty sure the version she'd read as a child had been highly edited and tampered with, because everyone else said that little red got eaten by the wolf in the end, but she remembered reading that little red had blown the wolf's head to bits with an 8-gauge shotgun.
The red cloak flashed for a moment in her mind. Such a pretty thing, a pretty color. Red
Red...
Ruby.
"Ruby?"
