"Wake up, Tevy," Khany said.
The hybrid opened her eyes, looking disoriented as she sat up in her stasis pod. She slapped away the hand reached out to her, but as she seemed to get her bearings she became aware of who the other person in the room was.
Tevy's shoulders slouched slightly, and Khany hoped it was a sign she was a bit more at ease with her. Or maybe the hybrid was tired.
Khany took a step back, and let Tevy leave the pod.
She attempted to stand but collapsed, dropping on her knees.
She glared at Khany, as if challenging her to remark on it as she struggled up and stood shakily. A glare that reminded the Vinean so much of a certain Japanese woman whose DNA the hybrid shared. She had her eyes. And her determination.
Khany decided it was best not to say anything. She wasn't certain how Tevy would react to her concern. It might be best to act as if she hadn't just collapsed,since she wasn't badly hurt.
Instead, Khany turned to the display showing the data the computer had gathered while Tevy had been asleep. She would act like a scientist. Maybe that sort of clinical behaviour would put Tevy at ease.
"Your vitals are stable... But there has been complications."
She hoped Tevy couldn't notice she had trouble keeping her voice calm. She had hoped the transplants from her and Yoko would have kept her stable, but her organs deteriorated quicker than Khany could replace them. But at least she had managed to slow it down and Tevy's cybernetic parts were supporting her metabolism, so she should be getting the nutrients she needed now.
And if she could get to the source of this...
"I am inviable."
Khany whipped around to see Tevy who had walked behind her to get a look at the panel.
"Will I have enough time to finish my mission? To finish Project Purge?"
Khany frowned. "Never mind the mission."
"Planet Earth must be purged to be made safe for Vineans," Tevy stated monotonically.
When she had been first woken up, her mind had been a blank, she had been nothing more than an instrument to destroy Earth.
She hadn't even had a name. Khany had named her, added to her DNA and her mind, and kept this all a secret.
And eventually Tevy had started to respond to her name, react like a living creature, show interest in things. Too much maybe, she was getting curious.
Khany turned the display off. She hadn't told Tevy she had human DNA in her. Her original programming surfaced less and less often, but Khany was afraid Tevy would react violently if she knew. That she would be disgusted at the idea of being part Earthling.
But maybe the being that had been originally created to help Vineans colonize Earth, and then turned into a weapon to destroy human life could become a link between the two people.
A link between her and Yoko...
Khany gently directed Tevy to sit on the operating table and reached to open the panel in the hybrid's chest, watching her stiffen.
"Does this hurt?" Khany decided to ask.
"No."
It was almost certainly a lie. And Khany wondered if keeping up the charade of professional purely scientific interest was worth it.
But Khany wasn't sure how to approach the problem otherwise. If people knew about Tevy, there might be factions amongst Vineans who would want to use her.
But she was no longer just a mindless creature made for a single mission. How long could Khany keep her here? A crazy idea of hiding Tevy with Yoko crossed Khany's mind but was immediately dismissed.
"Why are you doing this?" Tevy asked, gritting her teeth, and shuddered as the capsule that would keep her alive for a bit longer was inserted into her.
"Because otherwise you would die."
"And who would care? I wouldn't."
"Tevy, never think anything like that."
"It's true!" she staggered up. "My makers knew it! That's I'm inviable, a failure."
"That's not true," Khany told her, cursing in her mind that she had told Tevy about that and how she had been originally made. "You just need different things to survive than me, or robots..."
Desperate to say something that would take Tevy's mind off of it, she said:
"Tevy, I don't think I've ever told you about Yoko."
It felt wrong, that Tevy would not know anything about the person whose genes she carried. And maybe somehow this would wake her determination to stay alive.
"Yoko?"
"She is... someone I respect a lot. A human."
Tevy's eyes widened. "A human?" she almost spat the word out. "Diseased! Unclean!"
"No, Tevy, she is different. What would kill you or a Vinean who hasn't been adapted to Earth atmosphere, is nothing to her. Even something she needs to survive."
Tevy's brow burrowed in thought.
"She is strong then."
"She is different. As humans are different. There are things that would kill her, or any human... I wish you can meet her eventually."
Tevy moved closer to Khany. "What was Yoko made for?"
"I... I think she would consider that Buddha has given her mission in life to help people."
"Buddha made her?"
"Not really. It's something I'm not sure I understand." Khany wasn't even sure Buddha was real. Or if Yoko believed in Buddha like she believed in many other things. Maybe she should talk to her about it.
"There is something you don't understand?"
It was somewhat of a surprise to find out Tevy held her in such a regard. Although perhaps it was because she had no contact with others.
Tevy spoke slowly, as if weighing every word carefully before speaking them out loud. "I think I'd like to meet Yoko of Earth some time."
She leaned on Khany, gripping her arm and closing her eyes.
"I need to go now, Tevy."
The hybrid let go. "Yes."
"But I'll be back. And I might not know everything, but I know this; you're not worthless."
Tevy didn't answer.
"Listen, Tevy," Khany said, trying to get her to look her into those eyes. "I know you're strong. I'm not talking about anything physical, you need help with that, it's just a fact. But I know you have strength hidden in you no one knows about."
Tevy looked her in the eye now. And for a moment she looked so much like Yoko-
Unexpectedly, she let out a whimper and hugged Khany.
Khany wrapped her arms around the girl.
"It will be okay."
It would be dangerous. She'd have to take cells from her own heart to replace Tevy's. She couldn't do it alone.
Tevy pushed her away, looking flustered.
Khany let her go. "It will be okay," she repeated, this time more decisively. "I promise."
