Ch. 7

Chiarezza

Cloudy skies did nothing to alleviate Claes' concern as she tended to her garden, though it was warmer than yesterday she still heard murmurs about snow later in the month. The bespectacled cyborg didn't like it but these flowers would have to be harvested early; she'd be damned before letting snow claim her babies. Though she could save these flowers, she wasn't looking forward to not being able to garden in the coming weeks.

Unlike the other cyborgs Claes didn't have a handler, instead she was a test subject for the cyborg engineers. Any new implants were used on Claes before the others got the treatment, though there were instances of implants not working properly and her leaving the lab swimming in pain killers. They also used her to find ways to stall cyborg deterioration, though that usually took a backseat to making cyborgs more lethal, hence the distinct lack of progress.

Besides that, Claes had an abundance of free time at the agency; she could read her books, play the piano, wander around the agency grounds at her leisure, and so on. What she really enjoyed was taking care of her garden; it was something to focus on, to plan for in advance, and to take care of. Now that it was going to snow, she wasn't sure what she was going to do with herself during hours usually spent gardening. Talk with Triela if she's around? Then again, Claes already had enough of that to begin with, sometimes a little too much now that she thought about it. The others would probably be training with their handlers most of the time.

Claes was sure she had a handler at some point, but couldn't recall; she suspected something happened to him and the agency made her forget him, if he even existed. But he must have; who else would have left all those books behind for her? It was up to the handlers to decide if their cyborgs received any gifts, the agency itself couldn't care less beyond their ability to kill without remorse. Claes decided to keep it to herself though, her life was complete enough as is. It wasn't like she could ask about this mystery handler anyway; the staff would just deny everything and the other cyborgs probably had their memories of him wiped clean, she could only imagine how livid Jose must have been when they did it to Henrietta.

Suddenly reminded of Henrietta's current situation, Claes paused her work and sighed in frustration; she was having such a good morning until now. For some reason the thought of Henrietta being reconditioned made her feel sick, it would be the best thing for her but the mere thought of it left a bad taste in her mouth. Claes always found Henrietta's rather intense affection for Jose to be a little strange, in fact she almost wished it was purely due to conditioning that her younger friend admired her handler so much.

But to see it go….

The bespectacled cyborg turned around as she wiped sweat off her forehead, afterwards something caught her eye; Henrietta staring out the window of her hospital room. For a few seconds, all Claes did was stare back at the catatonic cyborg, thinking they must have moved her there so she wasn't just staring at a wall.

Henrietta's blank stare started doing something to Claes, something she didn't recognize or like, eventually she noticed her breathing becoming more audible. The gardener began wondering if Henrietta was staring at her specifically, and how long was she going to keep doing it. Eventually, Claes turned back around to water her flowers, trying desperately to ignore that accursed stare. She closed her eyes and focused on the sound of water dripping on soil, thought about the book she was in the middle of. But Claes could still feel Henrietta's blank gaze fixed on her, could still see it in her mind, never blinking or looking away.

"Stop it!" Claes suddenly screamed as she tossed her watering can aside and spun back around.

To her surprise, Henrietta wasn't there anymore; someone must have moved her. Noticing that she was hyperventilating slightly, Claes gasped and quickly checked to see if anyone was around. Finding nobody, she brought her fingers to her temples and took deep breaths.

Soon her anxiety had been replaced by guilt; Henrietta didn't deserve to be yelled at. This was worsened by the realization that she was still wearing her glasses; Claes made a promise to someone that she'd be gentle whenever she had her glasses on, but couldn't remember who. Frustrated with herself, Claes kicked her watering can with an angry grunt and started making her way back inside.


Taking a seat next to Henrietta's hospital bed, Jose just looked at her as the doctors left. They'd just finished moving her from her wheelchair to her bed, she still was just sitting there with her hands in her lap. This was all wrong, whenever they met Henrietta would always greet her handler with admiration and a shy smile, not this time. Still, Jose managed a smile despite his discomfort.

"Hey Henrietta," he greeted warmly like he always did with her, "did you get a good night's sleep?"

As expected he got no response, though the formality was more for his ease than hers. Jose scooted his chair closer to the bed so he was sitting side by side with his broken charge.

"I brought your photo album," the handler said as he presented said album, "I thought you and I could have a look at it."

Jose laid the album in her lap and flipped through the pages, discovering how neatly Henrietta organized her photos, she even dated each one. Though a little put off by how often he showed up in the collection, the handler was relieved to see that he wasn't all she put in here. There were also pictures of the other cyborgs, a few selfies, or just something she thought was pretty.

"Hey, look at this one," Jose pointed out to a photo of Triela having accidently spilt hot tea on herself, "Does Triela know you took this yet? I bet Claes would use it for blackmail!"

Still no response from Henrietta, Jose's smile weakened some but remained, so he moved on to another photo.

"How about this one?" he pointed to a photo of him and Henrietta on a hill overlooking Rome at night, "If I recall, you said that was your new favorite place to have picnics, we can go there again if you want."

Nothing, Henrietta didn't even blink. Disheartened, Jose's smile faded as he looked down, catching a glimpse of his cyborg in the photos. The smiling little girl in the photos had been replaced by a depressing, creepily doll like, and pathetic child who wanted nothing to do with the world anymore. Jose was scared that these photos would be all that was left of the Henrietta he raised, memories of someone who no longer existed.

Jose donned a subtle scowl as he got up to leave; right now all he wanted was to get away from this reminder of the mistakes he made.


Rico scanned Section 2's offices for any sign of her blond handler, finally noticing him she started approaching but hesitated; she wondered if he would say yes to her request. Jean wasn't exactly keen on paying attention to his cyborg's life outside of killing terrorists, but he didn't actively forbid her from extra things either, so Rico had hope of him saying yes. She took a deep breath as she finally got the courage to go ask him.

"Um…Jean?" Rico inquired, standing behind him as he worked on his computer.

"What is it Rico?" Jean asked without turning to face her. The cyborg started fidgeting with her hands and stared at the floor.

"You know I don't ask for much."

"Get to the point," Jean interrupted coldly, making Rico jump a little and look back up at him.

"Can I….uh, may I have permission to visit Henrietta in the infirmary, please?" she requested, correcting her grammar. Jean stopped typing, prompting a few seconds of awkward silence, Rico was about to ask if something was wrong when he broke the silence first.

"What for?" He asked, "I hear she doesn't exactly have much to say these days."

"Just to see her, Triela's going too," Rico answered. Her real reasons for wanting to see her were far more personal, but she knew Jean didn't like being bothered with such things.

Another few seconds of silence ensued, followed by Jean writing on something. Thinking that he was ignoring her, Rico frowned and looked at the floor as she started leaving. Suddenly she was stopped by her handler.

"Here, take this," he said as he handed her a slip with his name on it, "Show it to the lady at the front desk and they'll let you in." Rico took the slip with eyes wide in surprise, soon after a huge smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you Jean!" she said with enthusiasm.


Antica Enoteca had very few patrons today, a certain self-loathing handler was thankful for the quiet that came with it. Jose took another gulp from his drink and sighed, taking a few seconds to check if he was still sober enough to care about what happened to Henrietta.

He concluded he needed more drinks.

Jose thought about his cyborg as he waited for his next order, he just didn't know what to do next. She didn't care about her precious photo album, nor for the company of her dear handler. Jose was out of ideas, there was only one thing left to do for her. But the old Henrietta showed up in his mind again, smiling as she listened to a story he was telling her, sulking after Rico accidently broke the kaleidoscope he gave her, blushing as Jose held her hand on a walk. All of these thoughts kept begging him not to do what needed to be done.

Jose was thankful when his next glass of magical wine arrived to make them go away.


"Hey Claes, you feeling alright?" Triela asked as she looked at her collection of teddy bears, "You've been more quiet than usual since you went gardening this morning."

"It's just one of those days, Triela," Claes answered from the table, staring at her tea.

"If you say so," Triela relented after picking up one of her bears.

"What were you doing just now?"

"Picking out a teddy bear to give to Henrietta when I visit her," Triela said as she took a seat across from her bespectacled bunkmate, "I figure she could use the company."

"You'd think Jose would give her plenty of that with how much he mollycoddles her," Claes commented before taking a sip of her tea. Triela raised an eyebrow in response to her remark.

"He's been gone for an hour now, he probably wants to be alone," the senior cyborg explained with concern for her bookworm friend, "Why the attitude all of a sudden, are you sure you're okay?"

Claes didn't answer, instead she just looked down. Triela always saw her as a little unsociable, but not particularly snappy. What she just said about Jose was uncharacteristically nasty of her, and it worried the pigtailed cyborg.

"You know, Rico got permission from Jean to visit Henrietta earlier," Triela explained after putting on a smile, "How about you come with us to see her?"

"No!" Claes suddenly yelled as her gaze snapped upward, making Triela jump a little and raise her eyebrow again. Realizing what she just did, Claes avoided eye contact. "Uh….I already made plans to see Angelica now that she's awake."

Triela was about to say something when a knock at the door interrupted her.

"Hey Triela, its Rico!" The visitor said from the other side, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go," Triela answered as she got up to leave. Before opening the door however, she turned to Claes looking worried. "You and I are having a talk later."

After her bunkmate left, Claes laid her head on the table.


"I wish I had something to bring Henrietta," Rico said sadly as she and Triela were on their way to the aforementioned cyborg's room, having already checked in at the front desk.

"I'm sure she'll be happy with just your company, you two are practically sisters!" Triela reassured the younger cyborg with a soft smile, "Besides; even though Jose showers her with gifts, she's not one to be bought."

Rico smiled, feeling a little better, though she remembered she was doing this to learn something too. Finally reaching their destination, the pair made their way inside and were met with a depressing sight; the room was decidedly dull and gloomy, with Henrietta's pink pajamas being the only remotely "cheery" looking thing in sight, though the catatonic child wearing them greatly diminished their bright presence. Triela immediately walked in, not noticing Rico hesitating behind her.

"Hey Henrietta," she greeted quietly as she approached her friend's bed, "Rico and I…..Rico?" She turned around and found no trace of Henrietta's bunkmate.

Out in the hallway, Rico leaned against the wall as her breathing raised in volume and sweat dotted her synthetic skin. A completely gray room, a patient who can't move at all, it was all way too familiar to the small cyborg. Was this why she had trouble relating to Henrietta? It scared her? Rico was far too disturbed to confirm such theories.

Someone gently grabbed her wrist, pulling Rico from her thoughts and making her look at her visitor; Triela.

"Are you okay Rico?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, "You look pale!"

"I…uh…." Rico didn't know what to say. Triela's face softened when she noticed Rico's perspiration.

"I know it looks scary, considering the circumstances," the pigtailed cyborg explained quietly as her hand moved from Rico's wrist to her shoulder, "But Henrietta needs you right now, can you be brave for her?"

Now plagued with mind numbing guilt, Rico looked down and frowned.

"Okay," she said meekly.

Triela gently pushed Rico inside, the smaller cyborg was still hesitant and stopped every so often on their way to the bed, prompting the taller one to shove her slightly. Eventually Rico mustered the courage to move on her own, and the two of them took seats on opposite sides of Henrietta. A few seconds of awkward silence followed, Rico had her head down as she waited for Triela to say something.

A look up revealed that Triela was staring right at her, when Rico made eye contact with her she nodded her head towards Henrietta; she wanted Rico to speak first. The blonde girl looked back down briefly and started fidgeting with her hands, before looking up at Henrietta with a weak smile.

"Um…hi, Henrietta," Rico greeted shyly, "How are you feeling….uh…." She realized it was a stupid question and started fumbling with her words.

"Hey Rico, if I recall you saved Jose during the last mission," Triela pointed out, changing the subject for her struggling compatriot.

"Yeah!" Rico agreed, silently thanking Triela as she looked back at the catatonic cyborg, "I knew you'd be upset if anything happened to Jose, so I kept him safe for you! Jean said I did a good job for killing a lot of bad guys. I'm sorry I couldn't cover you though; I couldn't see you on the third floor and…."

Henrietta's blank expression made it difficult for Rico to carry on her one sided conversation, she was use to her bunkmate reacting to her stories; giggling, smiling, even just a nod would do. Eventually Rico gave up talking, clearly it wasn't doing anything for Henrietta. With a frown she reached for her surrogate sister's hand and gently grabbed it, thinking physical contact would make her stir. Nope, Rico even tried pulling a bit but not a muscle of hers budged.

"Henrietta," Rico pleaded, her voice cracked a bit. She was interrupted by Triela gently pushing her hand away.

"It's okay Rico," she said softly. Rico withdrew and slouched in her seat, eyes still fixed on her frozen bunkmate. Triela scooted closer to Henrietta, it was her turn.

"Hey Henrietta," the senior cyborg greeted with an almost motherly voice, "I don't know if you can hear us or not, but we're all really worried about you. It isn't the same not having you around."

Henrietta still didn't respond, making her smile fade, seeing Rico sink in her seat made it even worse. Triela sighed quietly, deciding that only one cyborg should be allowed to have problems at a time. Being the oldest made her feel responsible for the wellbeing of the other cyborgs, even though that was the handlers' job. So whenever she saw one of them in pain, scared, or just not having a good day, she took it upon herself to make things better for them. Needless to say, Triela felt a little overwhelmed right now, but decided to focus on the girl in the direst need.

"I know how much you hate being lonely, so I brought Augustus to keep you company," Triela said to Henrietta, referring to the teddy bear she brought, "Whenever you're scared, just hug him as tightly as you can." The pigtailed girl was a little too old to be comforted by such things, but she knew Henrietta would appreciate it, if she were conscious anyway.

Triela carefully placed her gift in Henrietta's lap, letting the bear leaned against her chest. Still not getting a response, her gaze joined Rico's on the floor. When she looked up to say something, an alarming sight met her eyes.

Henrietta moved.

She slowly moved her arms around the teddy bear and held it close to her, making the other two cyborgs immediately perk up and stare at her. For a few seconds no one said anything, then the catatonic cyborg surprised them again and spoke.

"Where's Jose?" Henrietta asked in a monotone voice, still staring ahead into nothing. Rico and Triela jumped in response as their eyes widened; they most certainly were not expecting this. "He was just here, where is he? I'm scared."

The other two girls just stared at her, waiting for her to do or say something else. After about a minute of silence, Rico couldn't sit still, so she jumped up and grabbed her bunkmate's shoulder.

"Henrietta?" she inquired desperately, "Hey!" No response, the brunette cyborg returned to her trance.

Triela just stared as Rico tried getting more out of Henrietta, processing what she just saw. Henrietta knew Jose was here earlier, she's terrified and wants to see him. So it only stands to reason…

Rico only noticed that Triela was leaving when she was right at the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked, briefly pausing her interrogation of her catatonic bunkmate.

"To find Hilshire!" Triela answered as she vanished out in the hallway. In truth what she really needed was a ride into town; her real objective was someone in Rome, someone who had to be here right now.

She had to find Jose.


"You sure he's in there?" Triela asked as she and Hilshire looked at the entrance to Antica Enoteca, it was an unassuming hangout on Via della Croce.

"Jean did say Jose went out for a drink, he must be in a bad way if he's not answering his phone," Hilshire replied, "Can't say I blame him, considering the circumstances." The fratello walked on in, ignoring strange looks from people sitting at the tables near the entrance.

Once inside, Triela quickly scanned the wine bar for Henrietta's handler, after a couple seconds she noticed him hunched over the counter in his seat, holding a glass of wine in his hand. Her brow furrowed in determination, Triela marched over to Jose. Upon her arrival however, the bartender caught her attention.

"Excuse me missy, you look way too young to…." He was interrupted by Hilshire showing him his government credentials.

"I think you can make an exception," the handler said with a scowl, "Just this once." The bartender immediately relented with eyes widened in fear, and promptly went to check on other patrons.

"Now why did you go and do that for?" Jose asked with a wry smile, "He and I were having a pleasant conversation."

"We came to get you Jose," Hilshire informed his fellow handler sternly.

"Henrietta needs you!" Triela explained urgently.

"Henrietta always needs me, I've let her become quite the emotional wreck, haven't I?" Jose's smiled faded as he talked, clearly he had a bit to drink, "But, that's about to change soon."

"What?" Hilshire inquired with widened eyes, "Jose, you don't mean…."

"What else is there? Nothing I do gets through to her, I can't help her anymore. Nobody can."

"Wait a second!" Triela interjected, "You don't need to have Henrietta reconditioned! She…."

"Hilshire, you really need to increase your cyborg's conditioning." Jose interrupted coldly, ignoring the pigtailed cyborg, "Otherwise, she could end up like mine. I know you like to put the brakes on conditioning like I use to."

Triela stared at the drunken handler with her mouth agape, she could not believe what she just heard. Jose was supposed to be a compassionate and empathetic sort, just who the hell was this guy taking his place?

"Now hold on!" Hilshire shouted as he shoved Triela out of the way, unable to hide his indignation, "Are you really willing to throw away everything the two of you have been through!?"

"Makes no difference to her, not anymore at least." Jose took another sip of his drink.

"You don't know that for sure!"

As the two handlers argued, they failed to notice Triela pacing back and forth behind them. Already annoyed by Jose's attitude and Hilshire shoving her, the cyborg's ire kept rising with each syllable they spoke. She wanted to do something, but just thinking about it made her nauseous; it was something she had been conditioned not to do. This combined with her anger made her start violently breathing through her nose, growing louder as she paced. The cyborg was about to call it quits on her urge, but Jose just had to utter that blasted statement.

"As it turns out, nothing I did for her was worth it."

Triela suddenly shoved past her handler, grabbed Jose by the collar of his shirt, and punched him in the face. The drunken handler was knocked out of his seat, resulting in him crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

Dazed from both the alcohol and the blow he just took, Jose stared up at the ceiling as blood dripped out from his nose. Eventually he found the strength to prop himself up with his arms, after which he noticed that he wasn't the only one not having a good time. Triela doubled over with her hands on her belly as she puked on the floor with a sickening gagging sound, her handler looked between her and his colleague as he struggled to decide who he should help.

Jose figured it was due to her insidious conditioning that Triela was expelling her lunch, her brainwashed mind couldn't fathom the idea of harming a member of the Social Welfare Agency and it made her sick, this was as much a punishment for her as it was for him. After she was finished, Triela leaned on the bar counter and wiped her mouth with her sleeve as she struggled to catch her breath. Hilshire reached out for her but she shrugged him off before stepping forward, stumbling almost us much as some of the establishment's more overindulgent patrons. Despite her dizziness, Triela managed to maintain an angry glare as she stood over Jose.

"Not worth it?" she repeated over her own raspy breathing, "Do you know how often she talks about you? I can't even begin to count the number of times Henrietta giggled after coming back from spending time with you! I don't see Rico doing that, or Angelica, hell Hilshire and I get along but even I don't go all…." She was interrupted by a pained grunt as she held her stomach and collapsed next to Jose, though she was able to prop herself up with her other arm.

"I know how much Henrietta looks up to me," Jose muttered through clenched teeth as his head throbbed, "But it's…"

"She spoke."

"…..What?" He turned to face the nauseous cyborg, who only had one narrow eye open as she resisted the urge to vomit again.

"Rico and I visited Henrietta," Triela explained with a cough, "She mentioned you visiting her earlier, she's scared out of her mind and she needs her handler!" Unable to speak anymore, the only sounds that came out of her mouth were those of coughing and wheezing.

Jose fought through his stupor induced by wine and Triela's punch as he processed what he just learned; Henrietta was aware of him visiting her. How much else did she notice in her current state? If she could hear what he was saying, then maybe…..

His thoughts were interrupted by seeing Hilshire help up his woozy cyborg, prompting him to clumsily get back on his feet too. Triela leaned against her handler as she tried to just will away her nausea, with no success.

"You okay?" Hilshire asked Jose as the latter used one of the bar chairs for support.

"I am now," Jose answered as he grabbed a napkin from the counter to wipe blood off his face, "Can't say I didn't deserve that."

His mind clear, well as clear as a mind could be after the drinks he had, Jose thought about what he could do for Henrietta now that he knew she acknowledged his presence. Eventually he thought back to the time he first saw Henrietta in the hospital and the Elsa investigation as Dr. Bianchi's words came to mind.

"Two worlds, huh?" Jose muttered to himself as a plan came together in his head.

"So what happens now?" Hilshire asked, making his colleague turn to face him.

"I think it's time we let Henrietta decide."