Saber Marionette and all affiliated characters, places, people, and what ever the else that name encompasses does not belong to me. Do you want to know what else does not belong to me? Money. Please do not sue this little fool who is only writing fan fiction. He lives with his mom...in Zimbabwe...in a swamp...on a mountain...alone...so there.
This is part 2 of my fan fiction. Read part one first. Why? Because your going to wonder just what the hell is going on if you don't! [stating the obvious][stating the obvious][stating the obvious] Any way I always welcome helpful criticisms. To tell you the truth, I've never been flamed before. :D Then again I've only posted one piece of fan fiction before. D: So the first guy who does it will be sure to get a letter back from me telling him that he is the first flamer of my life. After him I will simply read your flames with impunity. HaHA! That is right! IMPUNITY!!! I will look at them, laugh, point out that the author has most likely never typed a decent fanfic in his entire life, feel good about my self and save the message to show all my friends.
Anyway, If you have any helpful criticisms I'd love to hear it. Keyword being helpful. "Dude, It's BITCHIN'!!!" or "DUDE, YOU SUCK!!" is not helpful. Telling me exactly why I should never type a single story again in my life would be much, much better. Details are great. :D I'm writing this for my pleasure and that of my friends. I am posting it in hopes that you will enjoy it as well. I guess this is for all those out there with open minds. If you hate it please tell me why. I don't mind if you write me mail telling me you don't like the course of my story, or if the whole idea seems wrong. Just don't go on a mindless, evil-mail rampage about it. Back up your criticisms is all I ask.
I know what SMJ is all about. Six robots are gifted with a device that grants them human emotion. But I feel it's more than that. It is about the definition of "human", It is about love, it is about sacrifice, it is about doing the right thing. Whether or not you agree with me or not, you read only because you wish to. You can stop whenever you wish, I wont hold it against you if you leave half way through in disgust. Once again the only thing I ask is that you at least read through the whole thing before sending me any E-mail about it. Remember folks: The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
I rated this PG-13 for some adult language and some adult themes. Also about half way through they are all naked, but imagine them wearing loin cloths anyway. I need to keep the rating down.
One last thingy: I'd like to give props to my bud and editor- the great 'Vik-Man'. Thanks for making grammar better, fixing job did you great. Read now people can. Him did a good job ...Nominative clauses my ass..
Let's get moving again.
[NOTE] Version 1.1.- Dated: 17 October 2002; I went through the whole 'fic and repaired some stupid problems that were made. The most noticeable mistakes were made at the start of Chap. 3 and the radio transmission in Chap. 4. Now I think you guys will be able to at least understand what was going on. On FF.net using "" "" to indicate actions makes the damn server think it's a set of link instructions and erases the whole line. I fixed most all of them so you can read them now. I'm sorry about the mix up. Take care and Enjoy!
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"Lime, please. I really need it."
"No! Otaru, please tell Cherry I don't want to!"
Otaru frowned and exchanged a glance with Cherry. "Lime, if she says she needs it, you're the only one who could get out there fast enough and retrieve it."
Lime began to pout a bit. "Otaru! The trip would take me a few days~"
Bloodberry snorted. "That's the point..." She said below her breath.
"I'm sorry Lime, but you're the only one fast enough to do it." Otaru said shaking his head.
"But...Otaru..." Lime's frown deepened.
He walked over to the saddened doll and held her. She slumped in his embrace.
"Lime, I know that you will be able to do this. If Cherry says that this herb only grows deep in the Ikani Mountains, you'd be the best one to go out and fetch it. You are the fastest Lime."
Lime's slump deepened. "Otaru...I still don't really want to go." She said softly.
"Please Lime? Please?" Otaru said looking deep into her eyes. Lime curled her lower lip outwards a moment and then finally nodded. Otaru smiled and held her a bit closer.
"Thank you Lime! I'm counting on you! I know you can do it!"
She looked up. "Otaru is counting on me?"
He smiled. "Of course Lime. That's why I want you to go and not Cherry or Bloodberry."
Lime's eyes began to glitter. "Otaru is counting on Lime!!"
She smiled brightly up at him and held him tightly. "Ok! I'll do it."
It was set then. Lime would spend the next few days deep in the Ikani Mountains looking for a peculiar red herb called Maiden's Heart. Cherry sent her off to give her and Bloodberry time to explain things to Otaru. The trip would take her about a day to arrive and another few days at minimum for her to sniff out enough. Cherry knew that it would take Lime at least three days. Lime had no idea why she was really going. Cherry told her that she needed the herb to help make a salve for Keinaro's wounds. She was told that only she was fast enough to snag the herb and get it back before it went bad. Lime was totally clueless to the real reason. The truth would have killed her. The truth would have opened her mind and the Lime that Otaru knew would cease to exist. It was best she was sent away.
With a smile, Lime left carrying only a pack and a stencil of what the plant she needed would look like. Everyone waved as she started marching off. Lime smiled and moved with a purpose. Otaru was counting on her and she would by no means disappoint him. It was her duty to help him out as best she could. They stood and watched the plucky girl trot off until she finally turned a corner and disappeared. All three of them fell silent as soon as Lime was lost from view. They stood there watching the corner she disappeared around in an awkward silence. No one really wanted her to leave. Lime was the reason why Cherry and Bloodberry were still alive. She was the real reason why they were living with Otaru and not 'there'... Lime had been the first person that Cherry had ever met. Lime was the best friend Bloodberry had ever had. Each of them loved Lime like a sister, and hurt to send her away on a false mission. But they had no choice.
"Are you sure this is for the best?" Otaru asked, breaking the silence. "You guys never do anything with out each other."
Cherry looked up at him and placed her hand on his arm. "Otaru, Come inside and listen to us. Please. This is about Lime. It's about all of us."
It wasn't until he was through the door that Otaru realized that Cherry had called him simply Otaru...not Otaru-sama.
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SABER MARIONETTE J
By: The Dark Phoenix The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
Eps. 2: 'Eight'
"In the begining we only had one another"
Living risky, never scared,
Wander closer to the edge
Nothing valued think no fear,
Always wondering why you're here.
All your purposes are gone,
nothing's right and nothing's wrong.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained,
Feel no sorrow, feel no pain!
Kiss me while I'm still alive,
Kill me while I kiss the sky...
Let me die on my own terms,
Let me live and let me learn!
Now I'll follow my own way,
and I'll live on to another damn day!
Freedom carries sacrifice,
Remember when this was my life?
Looking forward, not behind.
Everybody's got to cross that line.
Free me now to give me place,
Keep me caged and free the beast...
Falling faster, time goes by,
Fear is not seen through these eyes.
What there was will never be!
Now I'm blind and cannot see!
Kiss me while I'm still alive
Kill me while I kiss the sky
Let me die on my own terms,
let me live and let me learn!
Now I'll follow my own way,
and I'll live on to another damn day!
Freedom carries sacrifice,
Remember when this was my life?
Kiss me while I'm still alive
Kill me while I kiss the sky
Let me die on my own terms,
let me live and let me learn!
Now I'll follow my own way,
And I'll live on to another damn day!!
Freedom carries sacrifice,
Remember when this was my life...
...Then they take it away...
~3 Doors Down - Life on my Own
This Alternate universe is written by The Dark Phoenix. Contact at The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
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Bloodberry took a seat next to Otaru while Cherry prepared a pot of tea. Otaru waited silently as she worked. Bloodberry held her hands clasped in front of her face and silently gazed ahead at nothing. Otaru'd never seen her like that before. He was a little unsettled to see her so somber. The bad feeling that had pervaded his thoughts since they had first told him they had a secret they needed to share was getting stronger. Otaru swallowed and waited. He was getting tired of waiting, but there was nothing else for him to do. All in good time...
Finally Cherry came back and set down three cups and put the pot on the table. She filled the glasses and handed them out one by one. Taking her own cup she sat and waited. The silence hung heavy over the table. Keinaro was still sleeping in Otaru's room. In the silence all three of them could hear his rhythmic and heavy breathing. He was still out cold. Cherry figured he would be out at least another eight hours. Bloodberry really hit him hard despite pulling her punch at the last moment.
Finally, reluctantly, Bloodberry put her hand over Otaru's.
"Otaru, we want you to understand something. We have only been living here for a while, yet for all three of us it has been the happiest time of our lives. Everything that we've done, Otaru; every mistake we've made; every battle we've fought; every meal we've made; every gift we've ever tried to give you; every day that we have woken up here, in your own home, was for you. You were one of the first people to really ever show us kindness. You were the first one to ever take care of us in the caring way you do. You were one of the first to go out and sweat blood and tears for our own safety and happiness. You have loved each of us more than almost anyone else has in all our lives."
"Otaru-sama," Cherry said softly. "We love you more than anything else in this world. We would all gladly trade our souls to the devil if it would mean that you could live one more day in happiness. We have seen who you really are. We know that you worry for us because you care. We have never done anything, Otaru, without your happiness in mind. All the trouble we've been in, all the fights we've gotten into, all the times when you were sad and worried or angry with us were all done because we loved you and we wanted to do the right thing to make you happy."
"Otaru, We don't know what you will think, or say to us after we tell you this..." Bloodberry said squeezing his hand gently. "...But know that despite what you may say or do to us after this, good or bad, we will always love you. We will never cease loving you. We will never cease caring for you. Otaru we pray that you will never abandon us. We pray that you will never leave us alone in the same disheveled heap that you found us in that night. We pray that you will love us as much as we love you, always.
"We are telling you this because we feel that the time has come for you to know the truth about who we are. And if you choose to no longer harbor us after we have told you, or even if you choose to destroy us, we will understand. Any consequence you impose upon our lives for sharing this secret with you would never be as severe as if you decided to never love us again."
"Any punishment, any at all, if by your hands, would be heaven compared to our lives without your love." Cherry said, adding her hand on top of Bloodberry's. "Please understand, we are telling you this only because we love you. Please don't ever hate us for this love."
Otaru looked at each of them. Both Bloodberry and Cherry looked as if they were going to cry. They were pouring their hearts out to him. He could hear truth in their every word. Otaru realized that if he ever stopped loving them...he would lose them forever.
He began to feel ill. All the times he yelled at them for their mistakes, for their recklessness or their inability to learn came back to him, he'd been yelling at loved ones who were only trying to please him, who were only trying to show him that they cared for him in the only ways they knew how. All the time's he'd lost his temper at Bloodberry, or barked at Cherry, or made Lime cry came back in a very painful flood.
Bloodberry and Cherry saw Otaru turn his head away in shame.
"Otaru!"
"Otaru-Sama!"
Otaru shook his head, his hand quivering. "Despite everything I've ever done to you, despite everything I've ever said, or made you feel, you still love me? Despite everything?"
"Otaru-sama, you could never do a wrong by us. Never."
They saw him tense and raise his other hand. Placing it over theirs he looked back up.
"What ever you tell me, I promise I wont get mad. You can tell me anything in the world, I don't care. I'll never stop loving you three."
Cherry and Bloodberry smiled and blinked back tears. They put their hands over his and nodded. It was done then. They were ready to tell their story.
...well, almost...
No one noticed Hanagata until he let out a cry of shock. He stood framed in the doorway slack-jawed. Had Otaru just SAID that?!
"O-OTARU!!" He cried out. "Otaru, what did you just say?!"
Otaru groaned. Great. Now he'll have to deal with him.
"Hanagata!! What are you doing here?!"
But the lovesick little man took no heed and shuffled forward to him on his knees.
"Otaru~ How could you say that? I thought I was the only love in your life. How could you betray me?!"
As Hanagata came close, moaning and groaning, Otaru lifted his foot and planted it in Hanagata's face.
"Hanagata, I hate you! What the hell are you talking about?!"
Instead of reeling back in shock, Hana merely took Otaru's foot into his hands and began to cuddle it up and down on his face.
"Otaru, how could possibly mean that? We had such a connection. I could feel the electricity flowing between us. I could tell that you cared for me and that my love was being returned to you hundred fold. I thought that-"
Otaru finally pulled his foot loose and gave Hanagata a hefty kick in his face once more. Bloodberry rose.
"Will you please leave us alone! We have to tell Otaru something important!"
Hanagata jumped up and pointed a long finger of accusation at her.
"GAH! Quiet you, that dared corrupt my sweet love!! You are the reason why I must vie for his love and attention!! You are the ones who threaten to take my blessed Otaru from my life!! You who-"
He was about to go even further when Cherry spoke up.
"You hate us because we are not human."
Hanagata stopped. "What? Er... er, well, yes, I guess that's one of the reasons. BUT STILL MORE IMPORTANLY-"
Cherry interrupted him again.
"Bloodberry..."
Her partner looked down at her for a second and Cherry exchanged a glance with her. A moment later Bloodberry caught on.
"eh... WHAT?! Cherry!! NO!! Why him?!"
"Because I feel that we will need all the allies we can get. And besides..." She turned and looked up at him. "He's known us almost as long as Otaru. I think he has a right to know as well."
Hanagata's eyebrows arched. "Huh, what are you two talking about?"
Cherry momentarily ignored him and turned to Otaru.
"Otaru-sama, would you mind if we told Hanagata as well?"
He frowned a bit and scratched his head. "You two are telling this to me because you want to." He paused and regarded the now very confused Hanagata. "...I suppose if you feel you must tell him as well... it's your decision."
Bloodberry groaned and sat back down. She didn't want the little freak present, but if Cherry insisted...
The lovesick little man cocked his head a bit. "O-Otaru...what are you talking about?"
"Just come and sit here Hanagata. These two feel it is important that you learn the truth."
"Truth about what?
"They were about to tell me." He said turning back to the table. "Just sit down and listen."
Hanagata wasn't one to listen to those marionettes babble, but then again he wasn't one to turn down an offer to sit next to Otaru. Quickly he settled himself next to his love and cast doubtful glares at the dolls sitting across from him.
With everyone settled, Otaru folded his hands. "All right you two, what do you have to tell me?"
Bloodberry and Cherry exchanged looks once more. "How to start..." Bloodberry began.
"First, Otaru, tell us, what do you know about us?"
"Eh?" he seemed surprised. Weren't they supposed to be answering his questions? "Err, Well, not much. One day almost two years ago I was caught out in the middle of a severe plasma storm. It was the worst one I've ever seen in my life. I was huddling under some trees when a plasma bolt struck the ground. It was massive, lighting up everything with it's hard light. Every hair on my body stood up as it danced along the ground not ten feet from me. I covered my eyes thinking I was toast. But the bolt never touched me. When the blinding light and the noise subsided I opened my eyes and found you three. You were in the crater where the bolt had struck." He paused and took a sip of the tea. Hanagata sat by silently and said nothing. "I pulled you three out and when the storm had passed I took you home. You guys know the rest."
"You weren't surprised to find us in that crater, Otaru?"
"No, I was very surprised. I thought that perhaps you three had just been uncovered from the ground. I thought maybe you three had been buried or something. I guess I've never been able to figure out how you three got there."
"What about when you found that we weren't like all the other marionettes? What about then?"
"When I first saw you smiling at me I thought that I had been dreaming. I was very surprised! But time went on... and I learned that you three weren't just different from all the other marionettes, you were better. You could smile. I grew to love it when one of you smiled."
"Didn't you ever wonder why we were different, Otaru-sama?"
"At first," he replied. "But early on I realized that it didn't matter. You guys were special and you were mine. I didn't care or question how you came to me, who you were, or why you were what you are. I only cared that I would wake up the next morning and you three would be there."
Cherry nodded and everyone fell silent for a moment. She reached out and picked up the pot of tea.
"Otaru-sama, would you like some more drink?"
"Yes, yes please."
"Hanagata?"
"What? Oh...er, sure, fill it up."
After she had done so she put it back down Bloodberry continued by holding out her wrist.
"Otaru...uh, Otaru, you've...never really...touched us...have you?" Hanagata did a double take and sprayed tea everywhere.
"Huh? What do you mean by that? Of course I've held you three. What are you talking about?"
"No, no, no." She said shaking her head and taking his hand. "I mean like this."
She placed his palm over her wrist and held it there. Otaru furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at her.
"Bloodber-"
"Wait, Otaru...Just wait..." She said locking eyes for a moment.
"Tell me what you feel."
"Bloodberry, I feel you, of course-"
"No, Otaru, deeper. What do you feel?"
Otaru shook his head and looked at her wrist. "I can feel you're warm, most marionettes are cold which is another thing that's different about you. Umm..." He shook his head again. "Other than that nothing else."
Bloodbrry leaned in closer. "You don't feel that, Otaru?" Hanagata was on the floor foaming at the mouth. Otaru almost never touched him in any way except to hurt him.
"Feel what?"
She opened and closed her hand. "Don't feel those?"
Otaru shook his head slowly. "...No..."
"Otaru, my bones, my tendons, my muscles..."
At first he didn't understand, but then the oddity of it hit him. He COULD feel them! Otaru looked down and his eyes widened. He could feel them moving under her skin. Marionettes had a hard shell under their soft, plushy skin that kept the parts inside safe. When they moved you weren't supposed to feel the parts as they moved inside. But as he felt her move he could feel something move with in her wrist. It wasn't machinery. It really did feel like muscle...and bone...and...
He narrowed his eyes and stilled his hand.
...Was that...
"Bloodberry." he said in a breathless tone. "Bloodberry you have a pulse!"
Hanagata jumped up. "What?! A pulse? That's impossible. Marionettes don't come with pulses."
"You don't believe me?! Feel for yourself!" Otaru took Hanagata's hand and placed it over Bloodberry's wrist. A second later he pulled his hand back screaming.
"EIYAA!! What are you doing with a PULSE!?! Marionettes don't have hearts!! They can't have a pulse!!!!"
Bloodberry reached over and gave her wrist back to Otaru.
"Now Otaru...Look. Tell me what you see."
With his hand shaking he took Bloodberry's wrist.
"...Bloodberry."
"Do it Otaru. Please."
He slowly brought her wrist to his face and began to look at it. At first he only saw her skin. It was soft and warm in his hand. But then he noticed something he'd never seen before. Something, for two years, he'd managed to miss. God, had he been blind all that time? His breath began to catch in his throat.
"Bloodberry..." he said slowly. "Why do you have veins running up your arm?"
With a look of dread on his face, Hanagata looked over and stared at her arm in Otaru's hand. His eyes grew wide.
"M-m-m-mm-mmm-mm-mu-mu-muh-muh-muh-muh-MARIONETTES DON'T HAVE VEINS!!!!!!" he exploded, jumping backwards. Backing himself up against the wall he extended his finger and pointed in terror.
"W-Who are you?! What are you?! GEYAAAAH!!" He began to freak out.
Bloodberry ignored him and turned to Otaru. "Otaru, I need them...I was born with them...just like you."
Otaru mouthed a single word silently. 'Born...' His eyes suddenly lit up in understanding. He looked over to Cherry and she nodded also. He shook his head in disbelief and ran his fingers through his hair. His breathing picked up and his eyes widened in shock.
"L-Lime! What about her?!"
"All three of us are, Otaru-sama."
He sat there in utter disbelief. They couldn't be serious! There was no way! Terra II had never felt the footsteps of a...of a...
"I got it!!" Hanagata pointed with a crazed smile on his face. "You're all men DISGUISED as Marionettes!!"
No one paid the little blonde man any heed. Otaru had gotten thier message.
"G-g-gimme one second." He said quickly rising. They watched him disappear into the kitchen and a moment later they heard him digging around in the cupboards. Bloodberry and Cherry exchanged looks and sat there listening to him. Suddenly there was a clanking noise and a loud *POP*. Cherry arched her eyebrow at Bloodberry. She looked back at her a moment before realizing what Otaru was going after. Leaping to her feet she took off into the kitchen.
"Oh my god!! Otaru, the expensive Sake!!!!"
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Hanagata sat a distance away from either of the freaks but as close to Otaru as he could. Cherry and Bloodberry wanted badly to sit next to Otaru and comfort him, but they were afraid of how he would react. Hana had finally realized what Otaru had and was still shocked.
There was a very good reason why they had veins and pulses and bones and muscles. They needed them for the same reason he and Otaru did. For the same reason any man on Terra II did.
...They were human.
They were real, flesh and blood creatures. Women, both of them. That was why they could laugh and cry and carry on conversation and fight like they did. They had real human brains in their heads.
Women...
They had to be the first. They were the first to EVER set foot on Terra II. Hana eyed them carefully. They could be the salvation of everyone on the planet. It was rumored in old legends that from women came incredible pleasure and offspring. Hanagata had no idea if either of these things were true. From the looks of them it would be incredibly difficult for any of them to harbor an unborn child until the time it hatched. He'd seen the cloning vats and knew that fetuses could get big before they were born. As for the pleasure part, from what he had seen by the type of clothes they wore they had no 'pleasure parts' to speak of like the other men on Terra II. He had no idea how they could possibly fill that department if they were missing the toolset. If pleasure meant their companionship and love...well, he'd known them all their time they were in Otaru's care and he hated them from first sight and ever since.
...So much for pleasure...
Otaru had his face buried in his hands. He was lost deep in thought. They were women all right. Real, live, honest to God women. Everything made sense all of a sudden to him. All their emotion and love was not generated artificially by a microchip but by a real thinking and reasoning brain. All this time he'd been adored by the first three real women on the planet and he still brushed them off and yelled at them. Even worse was that he never noticed any of these things before. Not once did he realize that they were more than what met the eye. What the hell had been wrong with him?
Even still, they told him that they still deeply loved them and trusted him enough to reveal who they really were. They were human, just like him.
...Just like him...
Otaru's eyebrows met. Or were they? They moved and fought just like combat dolls. They had their strength, agility, speed, stamina, everything. But if they were human how could they? Questions finally punched through the numbness in his mind.
Why could they do that? Who were they really? Where did they come from? How did they come to be...
He looked up at Cherry and Bloodberry. He started for a minute before he finally spoke.
"Ok...Ok... All right. Here come the questions. Where-"
Bloodberry cut him right off. "Wait, Otaru. We'll explain where we come from in a bit. It's a long story. You said you had a few other questions?"
"Fine..." He said nodding slowly. "Ok, fine... You three move like combat dolls, yet you tell me that you are human. No man in Japoness or even the world can move like you three do. No one except Keinaro has ever touched you three before. Why is that?"
"We and Keinaro are virtually the same." Cherry said slowly. "We both were born with enhancements that were designed to give our bodies specializations that would make us stronger than any of those born through regular cloning. The difference lies in experience. Hajima has gray eyes. He is an elite combat clone. He was taught combat in all its art and glory from a very young age. His entire life has been spent in training. We have only spent a few years training ourselves and, thus, are much, much less experienced than he."
Otaru cocked his head. "Huh? But you still won. What are you talking about?"
Bloodberry shook her head. "We only won because he let us."
His eyes narrowed a bit. "What?"
"Please trust me Otaru, if he were serious about killing us I would have died on that street. I'm not trained for killing like he is. I won because he didn't want to hurt me."
"But he ran from Cherry. He looked scared of her."
"That's because, Otaru-sama, he was a different type than I." Cherry said refilling Otaru's glass. "When we were born, we were born with different traits or attributes. I have enhanced my combat sensor, Bloodberry's worked on strength and muscle and Lime has speed. Each of these areas have a weakness to them that can be exploited by an opposite system. Combat sensors can be overcome by brawn, brawn can be overcome by speed and speed is overcome by combat sensors."
Otaru clasped his fingers loosely in front of his mouth. He was becoming confused. "What?"
"Combat sensors are designed to predict an enemy's move, but if won't help if you can't block or properly counter the enemies' attack because they are too strong. Their hits will break through any defense you put up.
"Brawn is all muscle though. While it's fast and rather strong, it's not THAT fast. Any one who has the speed trait can run circles around those with brawn. All that strength and they won't be able to hit anything. They'll strike at nothing but air.
"But speed won't help when you have a combat sensor system like mine, Otaru-sama. You can be as fast as you want to be but it won't help when the enemy knows when, where and how to block your every move just as you execute them. The combat system gives us that advantage of foresight.
"I am not telling you that these rules show what always happens. It isn't unheard of that a strong male defeats a faster one, or a faster one defeats a combat man. These rules are simply the guidelines upon which our skill is based upon."
Otaru and Hanagata were totally lost.
"What are you talking about? You three are human. No one I know is born with these, 'traits' or what ever you call them. Who has a combat sensor built into them? Nobody I know."
Cherry sighed. "Otaru-sama, were born with an endoskeleton."
"A what?"
"An endoskeleton. Like any of the warriors who were born in the high level cloning labs. You've never read about them in the history texts?"
Otaru shook his head. This was getting weird... "No, what's an endoskeleton?"
Bloodberry took over. "An endoskeleton is a wire net that encompassed the whole of our bodies. It was in us when we were born. All three of us were born with the exact same net. As our bodies grew and matured the net adapted and changed itself to suit the new conditions. It changed depending on our physical attributes and our personalities. It's really a blessing for us. On top of giving us our strength, power and attributes if we are ever wounded the net would heal it much faster than normal. I've heard stories of some who could do the opposite to themselves. They would be able to willingly wound themselves by causing a portion of the net to heat up and burn. They used this when they were undercover and had to pose as regular people. If their wounds healed too quickly it would give them away. Reopening them helped hide its healing ability."
Otaru was still shaking his head. "I've never heard of this before."
"Take our word for it, Otaru-sama." Cherry said softly. "This is what makes us different from you and Hanagata-sama. That is why we can do what we do."
Bloodberry muttered under her breath. "That's why we found that wire in Naro..."
Otaru groaned into his hands. He'd never heard about this 'endoskeleton' before. Not from anywhere. But there was no other way to explain what he had been told. It seemed he would have to take their word on it this once. Nodding slowly he looked back up. "Ok... Then what does this have to do Keinaro?"
"He was born in the same labs as us. He was born to kill, whereas Bloodberry and I were born for very different reasons."
"That doesn't tell me how you three were able to defeat him."
"He's both speed and strength, Otaru. He appears to lean much more toward speed though. His endoskeletal system has taken up its traits."
"What? He's both? How... Didn't you just finish telling me..."
Bloodberry chuckled. "The human body will change and evolve as you push it to its limits. Same thing with the skeleton. It's not uncommon for one such as he to learn to master two or even all three skills. Those that do are given the highest honors. They are the combat kings. They are never defeated. They have the counters, speed and brawn to take on all comers. They're given a special name."
Cherry nodded slowly. "Bishops..."
Otaru sat back and rubbed his eyes. "All right. Let's just assume that what you are saying is all true. I have never seen any man on Terra II with these qualities that you speak of. I've never seen or heard of any 'Bishops' around here. Where are these people?"
"Oh, I'm sure they're long dead Otaru-sama." Cherry said. "They're no longer around. They've been destroyed, or so we hope. A lot of time has passed since we left."
"Keinaro's very much around. He's sleeping on my bed."
Bloodberry chugged her tea and set the glass back down. "Otaru... this is where things are going to get very weird. Even more than what we've told you already. You're just going to have to continue to take our word for this, there is nothing else you can do. Please remember, Otaru, we are not lying to you, we only want you to know the truth."
"O...k..." He said very slowly.
Bloodberry nodded to Cherry and continued.
"Otaru-sama. We, all three of us, were born a very, very long time ago."
"How long?"
She paused. "...By what you tell us, close to seven hundred years."
Everyone was quiet at the table for a minute. Suddenly Hanagata stood up and started to walk swiftly away.
"Ok, that's it. I'm going back home."
Bloodberry reached out and dragged him back to his spot. "Sit down."
With a groan Hanagata slumped back down. Otaru frowned at Cherry.
"Seven hundred years? That's impossible. Are you telling me that he is seven hundred years old as well?" he said pointing to his room.
"No, Otaru-sama, you misunderstand. I didn't say we were that old. I said we were born seven hundred years ago."
Otaru's eye narrowed even further. "...Ok... Ok that's it! Just- just tell me. I want to know how you came to be. I want to know where you three were born. I want to know WHEN you three were born! Tell me everything. This nonsensical bullshit is loosing me. Don't talk to me in riddles or dodge my questions. Just give it to me straight. Tell me where you come from and how you were born so long ago and why that man who is sleeping in my room is doing so."
Slowly Cherry and Bloodberry nodded. This was it. Bloodberry took the lead of the story.
"All right, Otaru. Please hear us out. We will not lie to you. You want to know how we came to be, we will tell you. You too, Hanagata. You have as much right to know as Otaru, even if you are a queer little asshole."
Ignoring the now flaming Hanagata, Bloodberry took some tea and began.
"Our story really starts a few millennia ago. At the dawn of the second millennium of Earth's old recorded history they stumbled upon a scientific breakthrough. They'd finally mapped out human DNA. Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. DNA as you know, Otaru, is the code inside your body that regulates what cells do, what you look like, and sometimes how you think. DNA is the code that is you stored deep, deep inside your cells.
"Adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. These are the four components, or bases, that compose all DNA strands. Adenine to Thymine, and Cytosine to Guanine. Those two pairs in an infinite chain make up all DNA found in both man and woman. Yes, Otaru, Women have DNA almost exactly like men. Both are composed of the exact same building blocks, only in a different order.
"Now fast forward 50 years. By now cloning on Earth had been banned for moral reasons but that didn't stop scientists from playing God. They learned to chain and build complex DNA strands from scratch. They create the first human ever from DNA totally assembled by themselves using the Cytosine, Adenine, Guanine and Thymine extracted from their own blood. This human is a woman. She was aptly named Eve.
"When the world saw Eve they were amazed. She was of incredible beauty and grace. There were no other women on Earth who could compare to her. At first religious groups screamed and hollered about her, calling the scientists who created her monsters. Charges were brought up against them for their creation but were soon dropped after the courts realized that Eve wasn't a clone. She had been made entirely from scratch DNA bases. There were no laws preventing that.
"Eventually, as time passed, Eve came to be loved by all. She was renowned by all for her kindness, humbleness and generosity. She made her creators very rich, but she belonged to no one. The courts had ruled that because she was a human she had all the rights given to such and was not considered property. Often she would give what she had to the poor. She would donate time and money and influence toward peace. She became wise to the ways of man and learned how to help him. Up until the day she died she was loved and respected by all. Those who had been for her destruction at first changed their ways as they saw her push herself as she did for the safety and happiness for her fellow man. Surely, they reasoned, such a beautiful creature with such a heart is not a curse brought about by technology, but a blessing given to them from thier God or Gods on high.
"Eve lived to be one hundred and sixty years old, a testament to her gene encoders. She outlived them by almost one hundred years. The whole world mourned her loss and it was decided that unless necessary, another like her should never be made. People were still cautious about gene manipulation and decided that creating another Eve would be like shaming her name. She was like a Goddess. She lived as best she could and touched an entire planet. It took a long time for those who felt her kindness to go back on with their lives.
"It was a funny decision to be sure, but it was one they made. Time passed again and eventually Mesopotamia left Earth. On her way to colonize a new planet the computer core with an experimental AI system malfunctioned and killed the entire crew except 6 men who escaped in a landing vessel down to a cold and barren planet. Afterwards Mesopotamia misfired her boosters and plummeted to the same planet and destroyed herself upon it.
"At a loss as how to survive without women, those six men decided it was best to clone themselves in order to stay alive. They used their own DNA as a map to make more men and soon they started to turn the broken and barren rock that was this planet into the Terra II we know of today.
"However, they were obsessed with women. They still desperately wanted to have their own. To have a woman and have a real child of their own were actions all six men constantly yearned for. Eventually, as they started to spread across the planet, they came across the wreckage of Mesopotamia. There, they found the keys they were looking for to realize their dreams.
"When Mesopotamia left Earth, she had in her Data Cores all of the knowledge Earth had to offer for them. Included in this database were the maps to basic Male and Female DNA codes. The 6 men didn't need the male codes - each one had their own set of codes inside their own bodies inside each of their cells. However basic female encoding was a little harder to come by. Somehow those six were able to salvage the data core from the wreckage and bring it back home. There they found what they were looking for...
"...Well, almost. The Data core had been severely damaged and all they were able to pull from the woman's DNA map were bits and pieces of code. They learned that the only way they were ever going to get real live women back onto the planet was by guessing and checking with the last bits of the code. Realizing that the task could take them hundreds of years because of the complexity of the missing pieces they decided to create someone who would continue their work and realize their dream one day. This man was a combination of all six men. He was called Zero. Later, after the original six finally died leaving the care of Terra II in his hands, he took the new name- Ghenna.
"He ruled over Terra II for many, many years, re-cloning himself when ever needed, copying his memories from one clone to another, and re-cloning the original 6 as per their requests. He divided the 6 men into 6 kingdoms and let them rule each of the kingdoms under him. The 6 took orders only from him. It was ironic because while in the beginning they had been the creators, in the end he was their master.
"Ghenna built a mighty empire on top of the 6. It was called Mesopotamia, after the fathership that carried us to this world, and upon this empire he continued to research woman. He used the incomplete information from the Data core and the best science teams he had to continue the testing. Using logical combinations of DNA they ran possible strands through the central computer and used it to see if the code would theoretically be stable or not.
"After two hundred years and Ghenna's fourth re-birth as a clone they finally completed the first logical string of code. They strung it together in hopes that a female would be created. The creature that was born wasn't even human. It lived a short and miserable life after it was disconnected from the respirator and heart machine that kept it alive. Ghenna was very unhappy at the results, but he knew that they were on their way to creating the first woman ever made on Terra II. He held back his anger in hopes that the science team would continue their progress.
"Time and time again they tried and time and time again only mutations came out of the spawning pool. Finally on the fifth try what came out was human. Or so they thought. The creature was horribly mentally deficient. After three weeks they killed her and went back to redirecting the code. On the next try, their code was better. The woman that was born was much more competent but still handicapped to a degree. It was said that when she was killed she knew what was going to happen and fought bitterly to save herself.
"Finally they decided that seven was to be their lucky number. They tested out twenty different combinations of their known code to see what would result. Out of the twenty, only 15 were born. Out of 15 only eight were deemed stable. These eight were considered to be the first real females ever to walk the face of Terra II. These were the women that the original six dreamed about. Their vision had finally come true."
Bloodberry stopped and sipped some tea. Otaru swallowed.
"Bloodberry, Cherry, are you two-"
Bloodberry cut him off and pulled her hair away from her neck and turned her head. There was a small hole on the nape of her neck that looked like a small socket for a plug and above that, a small roman numeral. It had been tattooed on.
"I was number 17. Cherry was 5."
Otaru and Hanagata sat back. They had become speechless. For the first time in Hanagata's life he had no idea what to say. This was too much to handle so quickly. What they were saying couldn't be true, could it? If so why were there no women around today? Where did Mesopotamia go? Why aren't there any records of it even existing? Why...
Otaru's mind raced as well. The same questions were surfacing. Bloodberry reached over and took hold of his shoulder. He jumped at her touch.
"Otaru..."
He looked back at her silently. Slowly she let her arm fall and Otaru stood. He began to pace back and forth, his chin cupped between two fingers and eyes closed pensively. Slowly he moved across the floor letting what they had just told them sink in. They were created by taking DNA, breaking the bases apart and putting them back together in the proper order for women. They were created in a lab over one half millennia ago by a civilization he'd never heard of. And they were now sitting by him, telling them their story...
Finally he shook his head and sat back down.
"All right." He said with a sigh. "What happened next?"
Bloodberry nodded with a small smile and let Cherry take over.
"Otaru-sama, our experiences at birth were all very similar. Everything was a deep haze, all we could really remember was cold, blinding white and the smell. There was this permanent smell of artificial embryonic fluid in the air. That was something we all distinctly remember. That and the light...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All eight of them were sleeping soundly in their rooms, all resting on their tables. The tests showed that they were mentally stable and their DNA codes were solid. They'd finally done it. They had created women. These eight were the true Eves of Terra II. They were created from man, and from them new life would spread. Each of them were isolated in their respective rooms sleeping like infants.
Ghenna passed by each one and smiled every time he looked inside through the one-way mirror. He was aging and growing thin. His face was narrow, his lips thin. His eyes were two stones set deep into their own ancient sockets. They were a faded cerulean, shifty, hard, and very, very cunning. Some people said they even glittered depending on his mood. When his anger was peaked his eyes seemed to glitter like two angry jewels. When he was pleased they were cool and flat. Ghenna was known for his eyes. His empire was all but built upon them.
Beside him was a much larger man than himself. The man looked much younger than his master Ghenna. He was tall, imposing and very strong. He was one of the special breeds, revealed by his gray eyes. They were flat and at most times emotionless. He was very special. He had worked his way to the top of the elite hunter breeds. He was the biggest, strongest and fastest combat hunter in existence. He wasn't simply a Bishop, He was the Arch-Bishop of all the combat Bishops in the whole of the land. He was a hunter/killer who had mastered all three corners of the combat chart to their finest detail. He was as fast as they came, as strong as they came, and as cunning as they came. Unstoppable in combat, this Arch-Bishop was the pride and joy of Ghenna. He went by the name Kaiser.
Slowly he followed behind his leader and peered into each of the rooms. So these were women...
Ghenna's smile seemed to deepen. "Look at them Kaiser. Just look! Women! Real women like this world as never seen before!! Gorgeous, aren't they? Beautiful work, all of them!"
Kaiser cocked his head. "Beautiful? They all have bags of flesh hanging from their chests and they seem to be missing..." he trailed off and bent his head to stare at one of the women. "...Missing their reproductive organs."
Ghenna laughed. "Kaiser, Kaiser, Kaiser. Those bags of flesh are for babes to suckle and feed upon when they are first born, and their organs for reproduction are on the inside. They are meant to receive the seed of man inside their bodies where children grow. Fascinating when you think about it."
Kaiser shook his head. "Their hair, It has no color."
"Because, my dear boy, they are just hatched. They breached their cells only six hours ago. Hair color wont form for another two weeks minimum."
"And they are born as adults?"
"No they're still children at heart, Kaiser. We aged them some so that we can take advantage of their reproductive abilities sooner. The children they eventually will bear will be of normal size."
Kaiser shook his head anyway. "So now we have to teach them how to speak, and how to read and all the basics of learning and knowledge."
Ghenna laughed once again. "No, no. We have imprinted memories of knowledge in their minds already. They know everything they need to know to talk and read and such. All they have to do is remember it."
"It will still be teaching children." he said regarding them with a scowl. "Are you sure these eight are fully competent?"
"Yes, Kaiser. We are sure. Here, come over here and take a look at this!" Ghenna said walking down to the end of the row. He pointed inside to the woman lying under covers on the small bed. "Her tests indicate her mind is operating at a much higher level than the other seven. We think it has to do with something in the DNA code we gave her. Do you know what this means?"
"Not a clue."
"It means that she could be a psychic! She could have psychic powers!"
Kaiser sniffed. "Great, all we need are more psychics and harbingers of doom on this God forsaken rock..."
Ghenna kicked Kaiser in the leg. "No, you idiot, I don't mean one of those magic eight ball psychics. Not those palm readers or Tarot card frauds. I mean a real psychic. A woman with real psycho-kinesis. She could possibly read minds, manipulate objects with mere thought or even cause some real destruction..."
Kaiser turned back and looked at the woman. She slept peacefully on, as innocent as any child in their crib. Could such a small creature really have this power his master was talking about? Kaiser watched the woman sleep for a few moments longer.
"So they don't have the same organs us men have, huh Lord Ghenna?"
"No." He said shaking his head. "They have cavities in their place where they receive the seed of man. It is said that each one of these women are capable of giving exquisite pleasure to their lovers. I intend to find this out first hand! I look forward with joy to this." He turned and looked up at Kaiser. "Wouldn't you like one or two as your own, Kaiser? They would make excellent servant mates and you too can partake of their pleasure."
Kaiser chuckled and turned to walk away. "I don't need servants, and I've never really been into other men myself. What makes you think I would want a woman?"
Ghenna watched him walk off a moment before bursting out into laughter. "HaHA! Kaiser, you will be missing out if that is your decision! I'm offering you the first women ever to walk upon Terra II and you turn them down? Either you are truly uninterested in them, you are indeed very foolish!"
Kaiser merely shook his head and raised his arm behind him. He no intention of coupling with those disgusting creatures out there. This was one honor he was glad to pass up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passed as it always did and slowly each of the women stirred to life. Inside their own cells they were shut away from anyone else. They were in contact with no living thing, just as Ghenna had ordered. They were to be studied to make sure that the memory imprints that had been done had been done correctly. Ghenna also wanted to make sure that each of them was perfectly healthy with no flaws or defects in their physical state. Each one was closely observed behind their thin pane of glass.
All of them were confined to a small fifteen by fifteen room. The walls were stark white, the ceiling the same, as was the ground. The only thing in there other than themselves was the single bed and the toilet. Much to Ghenna's utter delight each of them remembered to use it almost from the beginning. After once or twice of using the floor or a corner the smell got too bad for them and they remembered what to do correctly.
Food was provided through a little slot in the floor that opened only when they were asleep. They wore nothing. It was Ghenna's request that they remain as pure as possible for as long as possible. He was fascinated with their natural state. Their bodies were new and exquisite to him. Each one was different. From their wide, curvaceous hips up to their slim waists down to their smooth legs he took a distinct pleasure in observing them. He remembered old stories the original six used to tell him about how women's legs would be smooth and silky when the skin was totally bare. Upon finding that hair was supposed to naturally grow along their legs, Ghenna had the DNA science team omit that line of code. The key code was changed to remove hair from other places, stop imperfections from growing, control any acne they might have and whatever other cosmetic imperfections they might come across. They were to be perfect and pure, a symbol of the might and power of mankind.
Some were of smaller stature, others were much larger. Some seemed to have developed more than others as well. Some were taller, some were stronger, some were more petite. As they observed the girls their natural hair color came out. Surprisingly, their color seemed to match their personalities. Ghenna was delighted to find this. Some had fiery red hair that seemed to come out at all angles and match tempers of the same degree. Others had cooler hair color that flowed down and around smoothly which matched much more complacent attitudes.
As they furthered their studies they began to classify and label each woman they had created. Eventually Ghenna decided to name them and give them the attributes given to their own elite soldiers. These women were to be creatures above all men, so it would be fitting that their bodies suited such a nature.
Most of the woman's bodies seemed to naturally suit one of the three named physical states granted by the system. Ghenna went from window to window and watched each of them. He took down notes as to their personality, hair color, recommended attribute, and anything else he took notice of. They were all different and new to him. His notes went as follows:
#7
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Physical build: Medium
Recommended System: Her frame supports both speed and power.
Notes: Possible Psychic. Appears to have a very strong will. Seems to be very light hearted. Has qualities for leadership.
Name: Leska
#5
Hair Color: Purple
Eye Color: Blue
Physical Build: Small
Recommended System: Frame supports only pre-emptive combat system.
Notes: Seems to be very calm, very tranquil. Underdeveloped feeding sacks could pose problem as a birth mother. Despite this, seems to have some qualities for breeding.
Name: Satomi
# 10
Hair Color: Blue
Eye Color: Blue
Physical Build: Medium
Recommended System: Pre-emptive Combat System.
Notes: Very observant. Seems to be a perfect match for combat system. Very cool and relaxed. Good-natured.
Name: Krysta
#6
Hair Color: Blue
Eye Color: Green
Physical Build: Small
Recommended System: Speed
Notes: Seems very lithe and agile. Her smallish frame is perfect for a speed system. Very sullen though. Seems to be bit moody, sometimes dour. A problem that may need to be fixed later on.
Name: Aisha
#3
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Physical Build: Medium
Recommended System: Speed
Notes: Fourth one born with blue eyes, I think we have mastered the art of that eye color. Perhaps I will have to mention it to science team to vary it a bit more next time. This one shows promise in area of speed despite slightly larger frame. Very active. Could also specialize in the area combat strength.
Name: Nanaka
#14
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Brown
Physical build: Small
Recommended System: None yet.
Notes: This one is very peculiar. Seems to be the cleverest out of the whole group. Posses no real strength in any of the given areas. However shows promise as a birth mother. Has very gentile demeanor. Body and build seem well suited for task of breeding.
Name: Katsumi
#18
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Red
Physical build: Large
Recommended System: Combat strength.
Notes: Appears to be rather aggressive. Body is built for strength and power. Would be well suited for sheer brawn. Possible loose cannon, though.
Name: Aiko
#19
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Brown
Physical Build: Large
Recommended System: Combat Strength.
Notes: This one, as well, appears to be aggressive. Her physical stature is also well suited for combat strength. Less likely to be a loose cannon than Aiko, might be a strong leader.
Name: Asuka [Author's note: :P]
For the first few weeks they led solitary lives. They knew of no other people other than themselves. They realized that they knew things that had been sitting in the back of their minds for the longest time. Katsumi, Aisha and Leska all on their own remembered language and how to talk. While their speech was far from perfect, Ghenna smiled when he heard their broken language flow from their mouths. He knew that with a little practice they would remember everything and that broken tongue could become whole.
Their voices were music to him. They were much higher than those of most men. At first the science teams though that there had been something wrong with their vocal cords. After they found they were fine they thought the problem lie in the DNA string, but when they went back to check it they found the pattern for vocal cords had been recovered in the data core. In the end they figured that their voices were exactly as they should be.
Their voices were sweet and melodious (to themselves) and rang like the finest instruments. Even their senseless chatter with themselves was like the song of the sweetest bird. Accepting the women's higher-than-normal voices came naturally to the men in the end. Things they also noticed were the way the women walked. They moved with grace and fluidity, unlike most men. They were a little unsteady at first, but memory and instinct helped them gain poise. After they got walking down, jumping and running came with ease, though they didn't have very much room to do either.
They learned most other things those first few weeks by themselves, but the time came when Ghenna decided that they learn about others. They would learn that there are others out there besides them and they would slowly learn how to interact with one another. Hopefully language would spring forth more naturally as well as other social skills. It was decided almost unanimously by the science team that clothing would be held off until a later date. To this day the real reasons behind their decision remain clouded in mystery...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One morning the women awoke to find an opening in their four walls. They were very curious at first. To all of them their little world had suddenly changed in a drastic way- There was a hole that went somewhere in their room. To most of them this concept was totally new. There was more out there than they had first originally thought. The four walls that was the scope of their lives now had a hole in it. Their own world, for the first time ever, expanded.
Ghenna decided that at first they would only meet one other girl. That way the shock wouldn't be so dramatic. Despite that, when they first met their partner utter shock was what best described the moment. Ghenna watched with a smile as they met. Fear, caution and shock were what he saw most of.
He decided to pair Aisha and Satomi together because of their sizes. Aisha was the more curious of the two and traveled down her hallway first. When she came to the end she found herself in a larger room than the one she had previously come out of. The roof above her was made of glass. As she looked up she saw, for the first time in her life, inky blackness. It was the first time she had ever seen the sky. It was still very early in the morning hours and the sun had not yet come up. The whole room was lit by soft lights that hugged the walls along the ground. While they were dim, she still could see everything. The room was much larger than her old one. She saw what looked like beds, only they were bent upwards at an angle. They were bent beds. As she focused in on these she seemed to remember their names. They came up out of the blur of her mind and manifested themselves. They were "seats", or "chairs". One of the two, she couldn't remember exactly. They looked so soft...
As she started to head over to them a sound to her left caused her to jump. Until then, she had never heard any sounds anywhere except the ones made by herself. Her heart began to beat and race as she looked over. What was that?!
It was another woman.
At first Aisha thought that it was another "mirror", like the one inside her old room. But she noticed that the person was not standing but squatting down. She also noticed that her hair was not blue, like her own. It was purple.
"Mirror?" She said looking over to the new girl. "Funny mirror?"
She giggled and walked over. "Funny mirror!"
But the girl who she thought was a mirror squeaked and took a few steps back. Aisha stopped dead in her tracks. She realized that this wasn't a mirror. This was another... her! Her mind began to formulate words and these words began to form into sentences. Was she real? Could she talk? I am not alone! These thoughts ran through Aisha's head in a flash.
"I... not...Ah, Al...l...lone." She stammered out. "Not alone... Not alone!!"
With a cheerful giggle she ran forward to this new person wanting to see who it was, but to her dismay the girl squeaked again and ran further down the tunnel where she turned and looked back at Aisha.
"Aiii..." Aisha said sadly. Why was she running? I want to meet her. Her mind began to form words again.
"W-wait! No... No, rrrun! W-wait!" Slowly came out. The girl at the end of the tunnel didn't move. Aisha took a step forward and the other girl took a step back. Aisha frowned.
"No! No run!"
She took anther step forward. The girl took a step back.
"Bahakana!" she spat in frustration, kicking the ground. What was wrong with her? She wanted to meet her! Why was she running? Aisha sat down and curled her legs close. The other girl did the same. They watched each other for at least 10 minutes. Aisha became frustrated. She'd realized that every time she moved forward, that girl would move back. So she reasoned that she couldn't go forward.
'Maybe Aisha catch her!' She thought. But no, she quickly discarded that idea. Maybe she would go away for good if she did. There had to be a better way. Aisha began to reason with herself.
I can't meet her. She doesn't "talk." She "sits." When I move toward her she runs away. She won't come to me. Why won't she come to me? I want to meet her. I want to meet her, why won't she come?
"Scared?" Aisha said aloud suddenly. The girl at the other end of the hallway jumped. 'Why...why would she be scared?' Aisha thought.
"Hungry!" She said leaping up. The new girl squealed and jumped to her feet and backed away a few more steps. Aisha ignored her for a moment and turned around smiling knowingly. She took off back through the new room and down her old tunnel. When she reached her old room she ran over to her bed and reached under it. Hidden away in the gear works underneath it was a small handful of dry food. They were like pellets. They were small and of a brownish color, but they were sweet and good to eat. Aisha had been storing them away whenever she ate, just in case something happened or she felt the urge for a few munchies.
Taking them she rushed back up the tunnel and surprised the new girl who had peeked her head out from her tunnel wondering what had happened to her. With a startled yell she took off back down her passageway again. Aisha rounded the corner with a large grin on her face. She watched as the new girl sat down at the other end and begin watching her like before.
Aisha took the food she had collected and placed it on the ground in front of her. She saw as the girl at the other end immediately perked up. She recognized the food almost immediately. Aisha reached down and took a few and ate them. She made sure she had the other girl's full attention. Then dividing the food into two piles she pushed one pile away from herself to the other girl. To Aisha's delight the other girl rose and cautiously made her way forward.
Slowly she inched her way closer. Aisha smiled disarmingly and waited cross-legged for the other girl to come closer. When she reached the small pile, she slowly and very, very cautiously extended her hand outwards toward it. Taking a pellet from the pile she retreated a bit and squatted down eyeing Aisha suspiciously. Aisha giggled and watched her munch on in. Swallowing, the other girl began to smile. It was real food.
Slowly she came forward again. This time she sat down some distance from the food and reached her hand out only when she thought it was safe. Aisha chewed a few more of the sweet pellets thoughtfully. She wasn't very hungry and thought of a better idea for the food. She took what was left of her pile and pushed it towards the new girls rapidly diminishing pile. The new girl saw this and flinched back a bit, but realized that Aisha was only giving her more. She smiled and took a few more not realizing that Aisha had inched her way a few inches closer.
She watched with amazement as the new girl ate with relish. She seemed very hungry.
"Hungry." Aisha said proudly. The other girl looked up and began to smile. She swallowed a pellet and lunged forward suddenly hugging Aisha. Aisha was caught totally off guard by this and squeaked nervously. This new girl was heavy, and warm, and smelly! But it took Aisha three seconds to get past those. It was the first time she had ever been touched by anything else. Smiling back Aisha hugged her back. She had no real idea what they were doing, but it felt good. Some smudged memory told her it was all right. Aisha giggled to her new friend and pulled away a bit. She stared back into the new girl's face. She was so soft and warm. Aisha ran her palm up her cheek and felt her shoulders and arms and down to her belly. She was real! She was really real!
The new girl stroked Aisha's hair and smiled. She'd come to the same conclusion herself. She leaned forward and put her ear to Aisha's chest bone. Something she learned was that she made a noise, deep inside her own chest. Whenever she lay down on her bed she could hear it throbbing through the cushions and springs. She wanted to see if Aisha had the same thing. Aisha cocked her head and giggled. What was she doing? Her ear was cold!
She saw her new friend's face light up as she heard Aisha's heart beating steadily inside her. She jumped up excitedly and hugged Aisha with all her might. Aisha smiled and hugged her back as well. She was really real! She was just like her! Finally they broke and sat back down looking at each other. Aisha pointed her thumb at herself and smiled.
"Aisha!" She said proudly. She new that sound was a "name", more specifically "Her Name". She wondered if this new girl had one too.
"Aisha!" she said again. "Aisha Aisha Aisha!" She said energetically. She was very excited. This was all new to her.
The new girl cocked her head for a second wondering what she was doing. Realization dawned on her face and she smiled. She took her finger and pointed to her friend.
"Aisha?"
"Aisha! Aisha! Aisha!" She said again hopping up and down.
The new girl smiled. "Aisha!"
"Aishaaa!"
The new girl paused for a moment and began to think hard to herself. Slowly she tried to talk.
"Sa-Sa-Sato-mi! Sato-mi!" she struggled out. This was the first time she ever tried formulating words. Upon learning Aisha was her friend's name a vague term surfaced in her memory. She remembered that it was her own "name." Name. Satomi.
"Sato-omi!" She tried to say. "Sat- Satomi"
Finally she nailed it. "Satomi!! SatomiSatomiSatomi" She said clapping her hands energetically. They both giggled. It was the first time they ever communicated with someone else and it was becoming an exciting experience.
Ghenna watched how each of the women interacted with one another. He learned several new attributes about them by watching them. Satomi was a little bit more clever than he had originally thought. She was also much more shy. Aisha wasn't to stupid herself. He had been impressed at her method of attracting Satomi to her. She'd surprised him. She'd been the only one to think of hoarding her own food for any reason. Very impressive indeed.
Krysta and Nanaka were paired up, along with Aiko and Asuka. Leska and Katsumi were the last pair to be joined up. Every pair seemed to get along quite well. Aiko and Asuka seemed to be a tad hostile to each other at first but their natural curiosity over came their caution and they became the closest pair in the whole group. Krysta and Nanaka got along very nicely as well. Leska and Katsumi paired up well too. Ghenna couldn't help but notice how Leska seemed to know someone was coming when Katsumi was traveling down her own tunnel, even before she reached the new common room.
The glass above, in the new room, showed what appeared to be the sky. It really was a display screen that only showed an image of the sky. As the sun rose on Terra II so did it rise on the screen. At first they were intrigued as to what it was they were seeing. Eventually they correctly labeled it as "Sky" but had no real idea as to what it really was. Ghenna smiled knowing that they would learn soon enough.
Language first developed faster than he had originally expected, but ended up taking much longer than was planned. Most of the women tended to make up their own noises or sounds for objects instead of using the names that should have come easily from memory. But at least they were talking. They were communicating and that was important. All that Ghenna was looking for was for them to express ideas and thoughts in the form of noises and sounds.
"Ne, Satomi?"
"Eah?"
"Know why every time..."
"Hey, Aiko."
"Huh?"
"Look out there, what see you..."
"Hehehe, Stupid Naka."
"NANAKA!"
"Hahaha, make no difference."
"Bah! Idiot Krys!"
"GAH?!"
"Leska-chan?"
"Hmm?"
"Have any-"
"No, sorry. Ate all of it."
"Oh..."
Ghenna watched them play, and cuddle and talk and interact and even fight. He knew that it was the first time any of them were experiencing any of these emotions and he was taking pleasure in watching them live them out. They were his lambs beginning to live out their lives in peace and harmony. Soon, he figured, they will come to sexual maturity. And when they do...
He smiled. He'd always wanted a son... why not eight?
Kaiser watched the women mature and grow with a slight displeasure. They were like wild animals. He couldn't see any reason for Ghenna to be enjoying them this much. If he were in charge, they would be destroyed and this practice would never be dabbled in again.
...But he wasn't. And he had to stand by watch them as much as Ghenna commanded. He'd been through the dorms while they were asleep before. They smelled, the whole lot of them. But then again, seeing as they had never washed before it made sense. They were all ratty and dirty and smelly. He hated going through there for any reason. But sometimes duty called and he was forced to trek through their pigsty. He knew what Ghenna planned on doing later on. It would only be a matter of time. He only hoped that he would never have to couple with such... DIRTY creatures. Never.
Down the road Ghenna planned on having two pairs meet up. It wasn't too bad of an idea. They'll need more human interaction and that would help their language and interaction skills. Kaiser just hoped that they would install pools or something of that nature to help with their own hygiene. They needed a few badly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ghenna watched the women grow emotionally he began counting down days. The next plan was to pair up two pairs and expand their common rooms. In the end all their dorms will be linked together like one giant hamster maze. He wanted to know how fast they would learn and figure out these tunnels and passages. But that was sometime down the line after he had grouped all of them up.
For the moment he decided to pair up the pairs. With the science teams approval he opened a new passage in their common room. This new tunnel sloped upwards into a newer, larger common. Much to Kaiser's displeasure they hadn't installed a bathing pool yet. There were a few seats, and even larger view of the sky and even a glass floor from which they could see down into what appeared to be a complex cave. "Tunnels" was the name that they ended up giving them.
Ghenna paired up Aisha and Satomi with Krysta and Nanaka. Aiko and Asuka with Leska and Katsumi. All four of the pairs were very surprised to find a new doorway in their own rooms. Very slowly, and in pairs (They almost never left each other's side for any reason now.) they traveled up this new passage. When they reached the top they found their new room.
...And the other pair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Satomi. Where is Aisha?"
She looked up over at Nanaka and shrugged. "Dun' know. Aisha's always going off to other places now. Dun' know where."
Krysta, who had been laying on her back catnapping, looked up. "Think she went down to the smaller rooms."
"Why? How come she always runs off like that? Where does she go? 'S boring down there all 'lone."
"Go down and ask Naka. Maybe she tell you."
"Sh' never smiles any more. She's so sad and frowny."
Satomi giggled. "That even a word?"
"Neh, poor Aisha. She never's happy no more. How come? What happened to her?"
Krysta sat up and shook her head. "Dun' know. I go see now then. I be back in a little time."
Satomi waved. "Ok."
Krysta walked down the tube and began to take a look through all the rooms. Aisha was down there some where, It was just a matter of where. She found her sitting inside her old room leaning against a wall.
"Aisha." she smiled. Aisha looked up momentarily startled and smiled back.
"Krys."
"Why are you doing down here? What is wrong?"
Aisha leaned back and closed her eyes. "Dun' know. Dun' feel like talking much."
"Lay back, sleep then. Why you down here? No smiled very much 'nymore."
Aisha clutched her arms and turned her head away slightly. "Jus' thinking. Dun feel like talking much any more."
"And smile?"
"Hehe, no smile any more? I guess nothing new, nothing to smile at."
"Satomi still smile, Naka too. How come you don't?"
"Dun' know. Just don't feel like it I guess..."
Krysta frowned. "Aisha sick?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No, maybe you're right. I need to smile more. Smile, smile, eh?"
Krysta smiled and pulled Aisha up. "Smile, Aisha! We all there is. Come back up."
She turned and started to walk away up the tunnel. Aisha stood and turned to the little mirror she had in her wall. She wasn't so sure about them being all there was. On more than one occasion she thought she saw something move in it. Not a reflection like everything else in there, but more of a shadow moving behind it. She was sure there was something on the other side of that glass. Who built this place? Who gave them food? Who opened the doors? She was positive that there was more out there than what met the eye.
'We are all there is.'
Aisha shook her head and turned to walk back up the tunnel. No, there was something else out there. She knew it. They weren't alone.
Behind the glass two science technicians watched Aisha go. The one on the left turned to his partner.
"You don't think she knows about us? Do you?"
"Knows about us?! The hell are you talking about?"
"Well, every once and a while she'll turn to the glass and it's like she's looking right through it at us."
"Bull. Now you're sounding like Delta team. They tell us that the psychic one does the same thing. It's all bullshit. You know the stories about the women of old. They're all vain bitches, the whole lot of them. They're probably just preening themselves, marveling at their own figures."
"Yeah... but even still-"
"Even still nothing. Just do your job and quit worrying about them. Those women probably can't even tie their own shoes much less see through a mirror. They're stupid. They can't even talk right."
"But-"
"Hey, Just shut up all right?! Leave the worrying to me. Drop this."
The other man sighed and shook his head. "Yes sir."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week later Aisha had a dream. It was night time and all four of them were sleeping soundly on the floor of their largest common. Even though it wasn't cold at all they still cuddled close savoring each other's warmth. Aisha was in the middle with her head resting on Nanaka's soft belly.
She was no stranger to dreams. She always had them. They were simply an extension of her day when she slept. She never questioned them. They were always pleasant. Often she would be spending happy times with her new friends. Other times she would be dreaming about wandering about their cavern. Still other times about sleeping. She had very little exposure to any outside world and thus her thoughts kept to what little she knew. Rarely she dreamed about the "tunnels" under their feet in the common and falling gracefully down into them and exploring a bit, or about flying through the glass window above and holding that warm, glowing orb that gave them light everyday. Every so often she would dance with the stars and swim with the clouds. After these nights she would wake up happy and refreshed and would smile often in the morning and through that day.
But that night the dream was very different. She was running. Deep down in the tunnels. There was little light and everything was becoming very dark. For the first time in her life she felt fear. Cold, hard, unreasoning fear. She could tell there was something behind her. Something that she knew wanted her. She wasn't sure of what it was exactly, but it was big- She could tell. It was very big.
"Monster"
It was terrible. She wanted to escape it. She wanted it to go away. She didn't want to hurt. She didn't do anything to it, but it was chasing her nonetheless. ...And it was getting closer.
Aisha wanted to fly away like she did in her other dreams. She wanted to rise above the ground and blast away at astonishing speeds. She could escape the tunnels if she could only rush away. But her feet never left the ground. They stayed firmly on the solid earth, holding the rest of her body with them.
Aisha began to panic. She did not like this in the least. Not at all. Why couldn't she run away. It was going to catch her. It was going to hurt her. She had this terrible feeling that it was going to hurt her badly. It so wanted to hurt her.
With a cry of dismay she tumbled to her knees. With out so much a look back she scrambled up and started to run... and found herself in one of the tubes. With out so much as a second thought she tore down it with as much speed as she could muster. The lights were dim and the tube took a much more creepy tone. The light was beginning to fade as she dashed on and everything was becoming dark. Risking a glance back down the tunnel she saw something terrible.
It was a pair of eyes. They were coming after her. They were blank eyes; totally white. They were angry eyes aimed at her. As Aisha ran she could see them getting steadily closer. Her mind, now in a complete state of utter panic and terror, went into a frenzy. Screaming at the top of her lungs she dashed headlong into the inky blackness praying that she could move fast enough to get away from this terrible monster.
Suddenly she ran into something and came to a complete stop. She slipped and fell right onto her ass. It hit the hard ground with a cold smack. She looked up and saw a figure standing before her. It was huge. Bigger than Naka or Krysta, it was full head taller than Aisha. And it was muscular. Very muscular. It was very bulky. Its face was hidden in the shadows, Aisha couldn't see very much of it. She looked around and found that the tunnels had disappeared. She was out on a large flat plane. The sky above was black and the ground the same white as the color of the tubes, the stark white.
Swallowing she looked up at the large person in front of her. She'd never seen anyone like him before.
"Him? What is 'him'?" She thought to herself. Before she had a chance to think anymore the tall figure took a step back.
"What-"
He jumped forward and brought his boot in a full arc slamming it straight into her stomach. With a painful cry she fell flat onto her belly.
"GET UP." 'Him' spoke. 'Him's' voice was loud and booming. It echoed throughout the nether space.
"GET UP."
Aisha felt another kick slam itself into her side. She cried out in pain and rolled on the ground.
"GET UP CHILD! GET UP NOW!"
'Him's' heavy foot slammed down her stomach causing her to crunch and fold up in pain. Aisha'd never felt like this before. This was far too intense for her. She couldn't breathe.
"HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO FIGHT IT WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN DEFEAT ME?"
Aisha's eyes clamped shut and she curled her body up. She didn't see the heavy foot crash itself upon her face. The next thing she knew was pain in her nose and cheeks and dizziness. Her body seemed to swirl about in an inky whirlpool of darkness. When she opened her eyes again she found herself back on her feet. 'Him' stood there calmly looking down at Aisha.
"Little Child..." Him's voice became softer. "If you don't defeat me, then you will have no future. You will be like a footnote in the pages of history. Combat will define you." Him pointed to behind Aisha's back. "It will consume you. It will destroy you. It is impatient. It will keep you safe in your nightmares only as long as you can dance before it. Once it bores of the charade it will become volatile. It will break you. It will kill you."
Aisha turned to find the shining, angry eyes directly behind her. With a scream she jumped up and backed away towards 'him'.
"It won't hurt you so long as it enjoys you. Defeat me and you will earn its pleasure for many more days than otherwise given by fate. Loose to me, let me crush you, let me break you... and you and all you know will perish."
Aisha stared at the glowing eyes with terror. They were safe? Safe from it? For how long?! Until when?!
"Learn to speak, think on your own, remember clothing and culture, poetry and song, become human... and you might stand a chance."
Aisha turned and looked up at 'him.' Slowly words began to form on her lips. These were new words. They were more "correct" than her old ones. They seemed more "right". Her mind, like a half open flower exposed to sunlight for the first time, opened wide and many things came to her. Language was the first and foremost of all these things.
"Who...Who are you? What's going to happen to us?! What, what is that-"
"Aisha..." him said softly. "Worry about bettering yourself. Worry about the safety of your family. Worry about those you will grow to love. Worry about standing when you will fall. It grows more impatient by the day. It sees a new future in you. As long as that future still shines in you, it will not destroy you. Learn Aisha. Learn and you will live. The only other alternative..."
Him trailed off and suddenly the monster in front of her began to scream and cry out in rage. Aisha trembled in fear as the glowing, hateful eyes burned at her. They jumped up and rose high into the air and with a loud, fearful cry dived down onto Aisha. With a scream she brought her hands up to shield herself and closed her eyes.
....With a scream she brought herself back into wakefulness. When she opened her eyes the entire room was pitch black. She had no idea where she was. She felt something jump under her head and across her legs and she screamed again. Fighting these things pressing against her she shot up and ran headlong into a wall. She fell back down slightly dazed. When a pair of hands grabbed her she began to shriek again. She covered her ears with her hands and rolled herself into a little ball. She stayed like this, screaming, until the lights finally came back on.
When she re-opened her eyes she saw Satomi hovering above her.
"AISHA! AISHA!! You ok?!"
With tears starting to well up in her eyes Aisha lay there looking up into the kind face of Satomi.
"S-Satomi!!" In a flash she was upon her and holding her tightly. She broke down and began to cry. It was the first time she'd ever done so in her life. She found water running down her cheeks and her eyes burned. Everyone else looked upon her with wonderment. What was happening to Aisha? What had caused her to act so strangely, screaming and wailing like that? Was she sick?
"Aisha..." Naka said softly. Satomi held Aisha tightly and rocked back and forth softly cradling her. Aisha looked up at her with a mix of fear and sadness in her eyes.
"I...I saw..." she sobbed out through the tears. "I s-saw a m-muh-monster a-and it chased me! It guh-got angry and almost hu-hurt me. I was s-s-so scared, Satomi! I was so s-scared!"
"Tcha, Aisha. Don't worry now. You going to be ok. Sleep is gone. Monster gone. Satomi will keep you safe. Naka and Krys will keep you safe. 'S all right Aisha. All right..."
Aisha fell back into her arms and brought forth new tears. It seemed so real. Too very real. As she cried in Satomi's arms Aisha decided once and for all to do what ever it took to push herself to the top. She knew that the dream had been real. That she had been in mortal danger. Her mind told her so. If she ever hoped to keep herself and the rest of her family alive she would have to be the one to rise when the others fell. Next time she saw 'him', she vowed, she wouldn't stop until she'd destroyed him. Conquering him would be their salvation.
From that day forward until they left their chambers the women stepped into the real world, she waited for that "him" to come back to her dreams. She waited for her chance. She had no idea what the vision really meant, but still she waited for him. Every night. He didn't come until later. Much later. And not in her dreams.
He came after the last set of doors were opened.
It was in the pitch black of night almost 2 weeks after the second set had opened. No one noticed the door was open until the morning. Naka had been the first one up. She'd rolled over and opened her eyes to find herself staring down a long tunnel. She was drowsy and didn't notice that there should have been a wall there. She rolled back around and tried to snooze.
With a snap her eyes came back open and she shot back over to make sure she saw what she did. Where the large wall should have been she saw instead a large gaping tunnel. It ran downwards for as far as she could see. Swallowing she turned back to her sleeping friends.
"Krys! Krysta!! Aisha!! Satomi!! Wake up!! Wake up now!!"
All three rolled over sleepily and groaned. Krys called up irritably. "Naka.. What's it?"
Nanaka ran to the three sitting down and kicked them to wakefulness. "Baka! Wake up! New tunnel!! Wall is GONE! 'S not there no more!!"
Krysta rolled over lazily and opened her eyes a crack glaring as best she could at Naka. Framed behind Naka was the very large opening.
"Naka! Can't it wait 'till- Whatta?!" She bolted upright. Naka wasn't lying. It was a huge.
"Satomi! Aisha!! New tunnel!! 'S open!"
In a flash the rest of them shot up. Aisha's mastery of the language had all since been perfected since that dream she had. New memories of how it should sound surfaced in her fragile mind. She quickly grasped the new concepts and proper language flowed forth. The rest were a little bit slower to pick up her mastery but slowly they corrected their mistakes. Their memories surfaced the more they heard her.
"Where does this lead to?"
"Maybe more of us..."
Nanaka strode forward a bit and peered down the tunnel. It seemed to curve up about 100 feet down. She turned to the others and smiled.
"Let's go!"
With a giggle she and the rest took off down the tunnel to what ever lay ahead. Aisha held back a bit. She had become wary since her dream. She was the only one amongst them who had any fear or inhibition. A "him" might be down there. Or even worse, that monster. She let the others run ahead and held back momentarily. After they passed the curve leading back up at the bottom Aisha stopped and listened. It wasn't until she heard their ooh-ing and aah-ing that she moved forward.
At the top of the small slope the tunnel gave way to a massive room. This one was much, much larger than any of the previous ones. The top was a massive dome that encompassed everything. Unlike the other room the dome did not let the image of the sky through. It was solid white with the scattered light brightening the whole room. The largest thing dominating the floor was a massive pool. Aisha had never dreamed that something like that could have existed. The pool was surrounded by a cool, hard, gray substance her mind identified as "stone". A waterfall dominated the far wall spilling countless gallons of water into the pool feeding it. All around the ground where there was no "stone"; there was a soft, green substance. It was thin and short, but there were billions of these little things blanketing almost everything.
"Grass..." Aisha said softly.
Sprouting from the grass were several leafy plants she identified as "trees". These trees were all very broad leafed. Some were short and squat with many large leaves while others were tall, with massive hard "trunks" and only few large spiny leaves at the very top. The word that best described them was "tropical". With vines everywhere, and the odd bright, blooming flower, the soft, thick grass and the massive waterfall and pool Aisha's brain plugged a single word to sum it all up.
"Jungle!"
Satomi turned. "Jungle!! This is Jungle!"
Naka smiled. "Jungle! Jungle! Jungle! Pretty!!"
"Big..." Aisha said looking all over. The entire place had an area of about half a mile square. The dome was very high, almost two hundred feet up. The water fall at the far end seemed to only stretch half as high. The Pool was massive. The designers installed it due to the heated request of Kaiser. The women would no doubt bathe, or at least play, in the water and clean themselves off. The jungle setting would give them plenty of climbing and running room. The vines would be used for swinging and playing around.
The planners figured that the waterfall would be a prime climbing target. They didn't want the women climbing it and falling to their deaths, so they made that cliffside sheer, offering no purchase for the would be mountain climbers. The lake as well had been toned down. It only got as deep as six feet. No drowning women in that pool. If there were ever any emergencies the pool would automatically drain a bit allowing the women to get their feet back on the ground and away to safety.
But Krysta didn't know or care about any of those little details. She had her eyes locked solely on the large pool of water before her. It was so inviting and so big. Laughing hysterically she found herself dashing forward ahead of the rest making straight for it. Upon reaching the shore she jumped with all her might and flopped straight into the water. Everyone else stood back wide eyed at her shenanigans but smiled as she resurfaced and stood.
She looked so different. Her hair was now straight and slick and plastered to her forehead and all down her body. All over her what little hair she had was plastered right onto the skin. The two small points on her breasts were at full attention, indicating that the water was very cold. She shivered a bit and ran her hands through her long hair and wringed some of the water out of it. Planting her hands on her hips she grinned over to her friends.
" 'S Cold!! I all wet!!" she giggled. A moment later three more girls were flying through the air and landing in the massive pool with giant splashes. Giggling laughing and yelling at the top of their lungs they played in the cool water for what seemed like hours. It was water! A huge body of water! They'd never seen anything like it before, not even in their dreams. It was so big, so great!
Satomi, however, was the first one to stop. She ceased splashing around and focused at the beach. A moment later Aisha swam up smiling.
"Satomi-chan? What's wro..." She stopped and began to stare as well. A second later Krys and Naka stopped and also turned.
They weren't alone. There were people on the beach.
Four of them. One with fiery red hair, another with a deeper shade, another with loose blonde hair and still one more with dark and straight, jet black hair. The two groups stood there silently and watched one another. Who were these newcomers? What were they doing here? How long have they been there?
Aisha stared suspiciously at them. They could be dangerous, she thought. There was only one way to find out.
Striding purposefully forward through the water she approached the four. Nanaka and Krys saw her go and decided to follow. The air had become very tense and the playful mood had left all of them. Something might happen to Aisha if she wasn't careful. They might start hitting Aisha and she could get hurt. They might be bad people. She may need their help. Satomi stayed back. While these people seemed harmless at the moment, she could tell that they could be very dangerous. The two redheads looked very strong. The blonde looked harmless enough, but the black haired one really struck Satomi as deadly. She had a strange look in her cerulean eyes. It made her shudder to watch. The black-haired one seemed cold. Something deep inside her told her that she should keep away from that one, and that was exactly what she planned on doing.
As Aisha, Naka, and Krys wadded to the newcomers, the largest red head, the one with the fiery hair, tensed up. Her friend, the other red head, put a hand on her shoulder. She leaned forward and whispered into her ear. The fiery one seemed to calm a bit, but still watched the trio approach on her guard. They might try to pull something.
The one with the straight, black hair walked out in front of her comrades and approached the incoming women. The blonde one seemed to hold back, not too sure what to do. The two red heads crossed their arms and waited. It seemed they would let the new party make the first move.
The one with the black hair stopped when she was ankle deep in the water. She watched Aisha intently. Images of the girl floated in and out of her mind. She could sense a lot of strong will in this person. She also caught whiff of something she'd never seen before. It seemed to cause this girl distress and heartache, yet seemed to build her character as well as strengthen her will. It was fear. The blue haired one was afraid of something. As the she came closer the black haired one crossed her arms and met her eyes.
Aisha did the same as she came close and stopped not one foot from her. They locked gazes, each trying to stare the other one down. Aisha's bright green eyes and this new girl's queer blue ones. Finally, Aisha seemed to crack a bit. She broke the gaze and asked one word instead.
"Friend?"
The new girl seemed taken back a moment. This one could speak. She gazed back at the smaller woman intently. Where had these people come from?
Aisha took her hand and placed it on the new girl's shoulder. The red head with the fire for hair seemed to jump and looked ready to pounce. Her friend held her back a bit, obviously waiting for her raven-haired friend to make her move. Aisha locked eyes with her again and asked once more.
"Are you a friend?"
The new woman stood still a moment. She regarded the new girl with interest. As more and more shadows of her mind passed through her own she began to realize that the girl was serious in her intentions for friendship. Finally smiling, the new woman raised her arm and placed it in Aisha's opposite shoulder.
"Friend. It's big enough here for all of us."
"Friend it is!" Aisha replied returning her smile. The red head seemed to visibly relax as she saw her friend place her hand on the stranger's shoulder. Her friend next to her seemed to do the same. Satomi smiled. She had a feeling that it would have been a very bad idea to be enemies with such women. Krysta and Nanaka smiled to each other and approached Aisha. The two red heads did the same and they began to introduce themselves to one another. Satomi looked past the group and over to the blonde standing a ways away from the group watching shyly. For a brief moment their eyes met, and Satomi smiled over to her. The small blonde blushed and smiled back a bit averting her eyes. Satomi could tell she was rather shy, just as she herself had been when she first met Aisha, and she giggled.
Moments later they were all playing in the lake water just as if they had been friends all their lives. It was in that manner that the all women on Terra II finally came to meet one another, in the same place, at the same time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The jungle turned out to be a magnificent new playground for them. Its sheer size gave them the room to run and jump, climb and explore, to let their bodies run free and enjoy the vastness of their wilderness. The two groups bonded very well and became very close. Aisha became truly happy for the first time in several weeks. The new people energized her. They filled her with a newfound spirit of happiness and joy. She found that each of the newcomers were very different people. The one with fiery red hair was called Aiko. Despite her aggressive attitude at the start she was in fact rather kind and docile. Granted she still had a bad habit of pulverizing things when ever she was in a bad mood, she was still very close to everyone of the women there.
Auska was much like her companion minus the urge to destroy random objects when ever she was angry. She was just as powerfully built and just as kind as her partner. Often Aisha would happen upon them when they were fighting. At least that was what she called it when she first saw it. When she looked closer she saw that they were playing. It was like they were mock fighting. "Sparring" came to mind. She figured that was just their way of venting steam and left it at that. Aiko and Asuka sparred every now and again to stretch out or, like Aisha had assumed, vent steam.
Leska, despite her pale skin, jet black hair and piercing eyes, was the most gentle out of all of them. She was always kind and willing to help the others. Often she shared food when someone was still hungry, or helped them when they fell from a tree and scraped themselves. She always seemed to know when something was wrong. She had the uncanny ability to sense it when something was amiss. Often whenever one of the others were in danger of hurting themselves she would be there getting them out of the situation. When Krys had climbed a tree and found herself stuck among the palms, Leska was the first person there. When Satomi had fallen down a slope and scraped herself badly, Leska was there first, treating her scratches and comforting her.
Aisha began to respect Leska immensely. She was the only one among them who really cared for the others around her more than herself. She never hurt anyone, never fought, never argued, was never rough with anyone, she was always honest, kind gentle. Her flat eyes and hard exterior hid the kind-hearted woman on the inside.
The last newcomer in Aisha's eyes was Katsumi. She was the shyest one out of all of them. She was always the one in back. She was the one who was always the last in. She rarely spoke, never fought, never argued and was always cheerful. Aisha liked her as well. She wasn't nearly as bold as any of the others, but she was always kind. She liked the way she never argued. She never said anything that would make any of the others mad. She was always generous with what she had and she always tried to do her best to please those around her. Aisha saw her as a smaller, more toned down version of Leska.
The eight of them got along well. Despite their large group they rarely fought. Aisha had said the wrong thing a few times and spent the following few minutes avoiding the deadly fists of Aiko. The rest would usually sit back and laugh at their small sparring match. Most of the time Aisha was able to avoid getting pummeled, but every once and a while Aiko got a good shot through and Aisha would find her self feeling it for a few days afterward.
They spent most of their days running about their playground, swimming in their lake or relaxing in the other rooms. Aisha stayed in high spirits for the rest of their time there. The newcomers were new and exciting and she enjoyed getting to know all of them more deeply. For the most part they all got along well in their remaining days. There was plenty of food, plenty of spare time and plenty of good feeling all around. In this time they all perfected their language. Aisha and Leska were the only ones who really remembered how things were supposed to sound. With the both of them using it, the other women quickly caught on.
But this period marked the end of their happy and carefree days. Ghenna really only wanted to have the girls meet and interact a bit before he began to process them. They were to be the greatest creatures to walk on Terra II. They were to be goddesses under him. In order for them to fill the role he gave them they would need to be trained. They would have to excel in their respective areas and top out better than any of the Gray Eyes in their league.
He was anxious to get them on with their training. He decided to only give the women two months more of rest before their training was to begin. At the time each of them were only one year old. Much to Kaiser's dismay he found he was to head their training. "Use the best to train the best" was the foundation in Ghenna's decision. The Arch-Bishop was more than annoyed at his leader's choice. The women still disgusted him. He hated the idea of interacting with such pathetic creatures. They were docile. They were lazy. Since they started bathing their smell had all but gone away, but they were still filthy in his eyes.
But it was still his duty to serve his master. Ghenna was his leader and father and he would do nothing to disappoint him. All of the Gray Eyes regarded Ghenna as their father. They looked up to him and would follow his orders unquestioningly. Personal feelings and agendas were always second. Kaiser was ordered and he would obey.
About one week before their vacation ended, Aisha met with Leska in private. There was something she wanted to talk about. Pulling her deep into their jungle and making sure no one else was around Aisha turned and addressed her new friend.
"Leska-chan, Can I ask you something?"
Leska narrowed her flat eyes and arched her eyebrows. "Of course Aisha. What is it?"
Aisha turned and looked out into the jungle making sure before she continued. "Leska..." She said taking a deep breath. "Leska... before I met you and Aiko, Asuka and Katsumi, I had a dream one night. It... it was a very frightening dream. I dreamt that I was running through our corridors being chased by a huge, monstrous creature. It was angry with me and wanted to cause me harm. It wanted to hurt me badly. I didn't know why, but it just did."
Leska stood by silently and listened intently to her friend. What she was describing to her were the images and shadows that most prominently floated into Leska's mind when ever she focused herself upon Aisha. She was finally learning what they meant.
"As I ran," Aisha continued. "I remembered finding myself in the Tunnels. When I looked back I saw that the creature was like two gigantic eyes. They focused in on me and seemed to be seething with hatred and spite. They scared me badly. I think it was the first time ever that I'd actually been terrified like that.
"I suddenly hit something and fell down coming to a complete stop. I looked up and saw that I ran into someone."
Aisha paused. Leska took a seat in the soft grass and waited, staring intently up at Aisha. She'd seen what Aisha had from the shadows in her mind. She waited to see what Aisha made of it.
"It wasn't one of us. I could tell right away. It was taller than any of us. It also looked stronger... much stronger... It was built differently was well. It seemed more blocky and solid than any of us. I remember... I remember calling it 'him'. 'Him' was what best came to mind."
Leska nodded, her eyes now narrow, pensive slits.
"I remember him kicking me next. 'Him' kicked me hard, right in my belly on the ground. 'Him' knocked the wind out of me. 'Him' kicked me again and again, I was on the ground and, and 'him'-"
"He." Leska said interrupting her.
Aisha stopped and looked up. "What?"
"He" Leska repeated. "The correct nominative clause is 'he'." [author's note: I didn't word it like that, my editor did. Don't ask me what it means...]
Aisha stared at her a moment as the correct memory surfaced. She was right.
"He... That's right! It goes by he..." Suddenly she came straight to attention and stared in shock at her friend on the ground.
"You know what I'm talking about then!"
Leska nodded slowly. "Yes, Aisha. I've seen him as well."
Aisha sat down by her side and took her shoulders into her hands. "You know what he is then! You know who he is!"
Leska cocked an eyebrow and averted her gaze a moment. "...Yeees and no, Aisha. I know that he is male. And that we are female. I know that there are a great many 'he's' outside where we live. I know that when we see one..."
She trailed off. Some where a technician who was in charge of monitoring and recording the actions of all the women choked on his coffee and donuts and fell over in his chair. After he recovered he dialed the hotline straight to Ghenna's inner office.
Aisha cocked her head a bit. "And?"
Leska shook hers and frowned. "I'm sorry Aisha, that's all I know. They're just as much a mystery to me as they are to you."
"How do you know about them?"
Leska smiled knowingly. "Dreams..." She said softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Ghenna received word that one of the women knew about the presence of men he went berserk. His eyes glittered like two jewels caught in moonlight. They shouldn't have known about anything at all outside the walls of their complex. Something or someone had to have leaked the information in to them. But when he found out who knew about it his attitude took a 180°. It had been his precious psychic. She had been the one. It was now painfully obvious that she had certain abilities. He decided to dash their remaining together time and proceed with their plans ahead of schedule. In one week the others would understand the true purpose of their lives. Ghenna couldn't wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After their conversation, Aisha felt better about the whole ordeal. She wasn't alone. Leska had also seen men in her dreams. Aisha slept better the remaining week, still on the watch for the rogue man, having much, much more peaceful nights. She was confident that should she ever see him again, she would be able to defeat him and put the demon in her mind to rest. Leska had made all the difference for her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were all gathered by the pond enjoying the meals that seemed to magically appear every morning in their original rooms, bathing by the pools side and swimming deep. Katsumi was seated comfortably by the waterside watching as Asuka grabbed Krysta causing both of them to tumble backwards with a huge splash. Aiko had been standing off cooling in the water when the miniature tsunami enveloped her. With a gurgled scream she jumped up and glared death upon the two rough-housers. Aisha and Satomi broke out giggling when they saw Aiko steaming along the pond side aiming to pummel the two miscreants. She could be such a hothead at times, they both thought. Nanaka and Leska sat smiling as well on the beach. Asuka was starting to become more and more playful. This was the third time in as many days that she had tackled someone in the water. With a cheerful 'Wheeee!' she took off away from Aiko leaving Krys behind. Asuka knew, after all, she didn't have to out run Aiko, all she had to do was out run Krysta, leaving her to the bear, so to speak.
Aisha stopped smiling when Krys, who had been busy beating away Aiko and not playing attention to where she was going, slammed straight into her. With a wild yell they both tumbled into the water. Aiko saw them go down and, smiling, leaped high into the air. She came down with a splash and began to 'mock' pummel who ever was beneath her. When she pulled the unfortunate up she found her hands to be around Aisha's neck rather than Krys'.
With a frightened yelp she took off heading the other way. Aisha began to breathe fire and chased after her with her fist high in the air. By now Leska and Nanaka were rolling on the floor laughing at their antics. Satomi and Katsumi were also giggling uncontrollably. Asuka was crying. Her sides hurt from all her laughter. She'd all but died on the beach watching all the chaos she had wreaked. She was fast becoming the goddess of mischief.
As the laughter slowly began to quiet down each of the girls in turn became totally silent. Leska and Nanaka, then Katsumi and Satomi, followed by Aisha letting Aiko out of her headlock of death and finally ending on Asuka quieting down after realizing she was laughing all alone. She looked up at her friends curiously. Their attention was turned to something else. Slowly Asuka turned to see what it was they were staring at. Her eyes went wide open with shock once she saw it.
It was huge. Taller than any of the rest of them. It stood tall and strong, seemingly dwarfing any of the women there. It breathed slowly and deliberately, its massive, barrel like chest slowly rising and falling. It seemed to be wearing something over its body, like an extra pair of skin. Its feet looked hard and glossy black. The extra skin was tight and shiny around there. As she looked up it came to much looser skin that seemed to fold away from the body. Asuka could see stripes running up this length of skin covering its' legs.
Its large, flat chest was, for the most part, bare. Its neck was thick and strong, leading to a stern and hard face. Its eyes were gray and hair was brown. Hair trailed down to the small of its back, much like all of theirs. From it's powerful hands to its gigantic biceps to its imposing frame, the women gazed silently at the one creature that was about to change the rest of their lives very dramatically. It was a man, and it was there, gazing upon them.
Kaiser had come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, ok. I'm going to figure that there are a few people out there who are wondering just who the names given to each of the marionettes are given to. Aisha is Lime (and a very different one at that.), Satomi is Cherry, Aiko is Bloodberry, Asuka is Tiger, Nanaka is Panta and Krysta is Luchs. Betcha they seem really out of character, huh? I found that in SMJ their personalities were a result of the programming in their maiden circuits. These women were just born. I decided that their lives will shape their personalities later on. Right now they are all innocent and pure, just like little babies. Life will rip them apart. But that's all in the future. I'll work on part 3 depending on the feedback I get for the first two parts. I'll see what you peoples think. Feel free to send me feedback at The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com. You know the rules. On one last note, I know this ending song is about cocaine. Just play along with the whole puppets/marionette similarity thing, ok?
^^ Tataa~.
End of passion play, crumbling away.
....I'm your source of self-destruction...
Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear.
...Leading on your deaths construction...
Taste me you will see
more is all you need
Dedicated to
how I'm killing you...
Come crawling faster...
Obey your Master!
Your life burns faster...
Obey your Master!
Master!
Master of Puppets, I'm pulling your strings!
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing,
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
Needlework the way, never you betray.
...life of death becoming clearer...
Pain monopoly, ritual misery.
...chop your breakfast on a mirror...
Taste me you will see
more is all you need!
Dedicated to
how I'm fucking you!
...Come crawling faster...
Obey your Master!
...Your life burns faster...
Obey your Master!
Master!
Master of Puppets, I'm pulling your strings
twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing...
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream.
Master!
Master!
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream.
Master!
Master!
Master, Master... Where's the dreams that I've been after?
Master, Master... You promised only lies!
Laughter, Laughter.. All I hear and see is laughter...
Laughter, Laughter... laughing at my cries!
Hell is worth all that, natural habitat!
Just a rhyme without a reason...
Never-ending maze, drift on numbered days!
Now your life is out of season...
I will occupy...
I will help you die!
I will run through you...
Now I rule you, too!
...Come crawling faster...
Obey your Master!
...Your life burns faster...
Obey your Master!
Master!
Master of Puppets pulling your strings...
twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing...
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
...Ha Ha Ha Ha...
~Master of Puppets
Metallica
S&M Version
This is part 2 of my fan fiction. Read part one first. Why? Because your going to wonder just what the hell is going on if you don't! [stating the obvious][stating the obvious][stating the obvious] Any way I always welcome helpful criticisms. To tell you the truth, I've never been flamed before. :D Then again I've only posted one piece of fan fiction before. D: So the first guy who does it will be sure to get a letter back from me telling him that he is the first flamer of my life. After him I will simply read your flames with impunity. HaHA! That is right! IMPUNITY!!! I will look at them, laugh, point out that the author has most likely never typed a decent fanfic in his entire life, feel good about my self and save the message to show all my friends.
Anyway, If you have any helpful criticisms I'd love to hear it. Keyword being helpful. "Dude, It's BITCHIN'!!!" or "DUDE, YOU SUCK!!" is not helpful. Telling me exactly why I should never type a single story again in my life would be much, much better. Details are great. :D I'm writing this for my pleasure and that of my friends. I am posting it in hopes that you will enjoy it as well. I guess this is for all those out there with open minds. If you hate it please tell me why. I don't mind if you write me mail telling me you don't like the course of my story, or if the whole idea seems wrong. Just don't go on a mindless, evil-mail rampage about it. Back up your criticisms is all I ask.
I know what SMJ is all about. Six robots are gifted with a device that grants them human emotion. But I feel it's more than that. It is about the definition of "human", It is about love, it is about sacrifice, it is about doing the right thing. Whether or not you agree with me or not, you read only because you wish to. You can stop whenever you wish, I wont hold it against you if you leave half way through in disgust. Once again the only thing I ask is that you at least read through the whole thing before sending me any E-mail about it. Remember folks: The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
I rated this PG-13 for some adult language and some adult themes. Also about half way through they are all naked, but imagine them wearing loin cloths anyway. I need to keep the rating down.
One last thingy: I'd like to give props to my bud and editor- the great 'Vik-Man'. Thanks for making grammar better, fixing job did you great. Read now people can. Him did a good job ...Nominative clauses my ass..
Let's get moving again.
[NOTE] Version 1.1.- Dated: 17 October 2002; I went through the whole 'fic and repaired some stupid problems that were made. The most noticeable mistakes were made at the start of Chap. 3 and the radio transmission in Chap. 4. Now I think you guys will be able to at least understand what was going on. On FF.net using "" "" to indicate actions makes the damn server think it's a set of link instructions and erases the whole line. I fixed most all of them so you can read them now. I'm sorry about the mix up. Take care and Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lime, please. I really need it."
"No! Otaru, please tell Cherry I don't want to!"
Otaru frowned and exchanged a glance with Cherry. "Lime, if she says she needs it, you're the only one who could get out there fast enough and retrieve it."
Lime began to pout a bit. "Otaru! The trip would take me a few days~"
Bloodberry snorted. "That's the point..." She said below her breath.
"I'm sorry Lime, but you're the only one fast enough to do it." Otaru said shaking his head.
"But...Otaru..." Lime's frown deepened.
He walked over to the saddened doll and held her. She slumped in his embrace.
"Lime, I know that you will be able to do this. If Cherry says that this herb only grows deep in the Ikani Mountains, you'd be the best one to go out and fetch it. You are the fastest Lime."
Lime's slump deepened. "Otaru...I still don't really want to go." She said softly.
"Please Lime? Please?" Otaru said looking deep into her eyes. Lime curled her lower lip outwards a moment and then finally nodded. Otaru smiled and held her a bit closer.
"Thank you Lime! I'm counting on you! I know you can do it!"
She looked up. "Otaru is counting on me?"
He smiled. "Of course Lime. That's why I want you to go and not Cherry or Bloodberry."
Lime's eyes began to glitter. "Otaru is counting on Lime!!"
She smiled brightly up at him and held him tightly. "Ok! I'll do it."
It was set then. Lime would spend the next few days deep in the Ikani Mountains looking for a peculiar red herb called Maiden's Heart. Cherry sent her off to give her and Bloodberry time to explain things to Otaru. The trip would take her about a day to arrive and another few days at minimum for her to sniff out enough. Cherry knew that it would take Lime at least three days. Lime had no idea why she was really going. Cherry told her that she needed the herb to help make a salve for Keinaro's wounds. She was told that only she was fast enough to snag the herb and get it back before it went bad. Lime was totally clueless to the real reason. The truth would have killed her. The truth would have opened her mind and the Lime that Otaru knew would cease to exist. It was best she was sent away.
With a smile, Lime left carrying only a pack and a stencil of what the plant she needed would look like. Everyone waved as she started marching off. Lime smiled and moved with a purpose. Otaru was counting on her and she would by no means disappoint him. It was her duty to help him out as best she could. They stood and watched the plucky girl trot off until she finally turned a corner and disappeared. All three of them fell silent as soon as Lime was lost from view. They stood there watching the corner she disappeared around in an awkward silence. No one really wanted her to leave. Lime was the reason why Cherry and Bloodberry were still alive. She was the real reason why they were living with Otaru and not 'there'... Lime had been the first person that Cherry had ever met. Lime was the best friend Bloodberry had ever had. Each of them loved Lime like a sister, and hurt to send her away on a false mission. But they had no choice.
"Are you sure this is for the best?" Otaru asked, breaking the silence. "You guys never do anything with out each other."
Cherry looked up at him and placed her hand on his arm. "Otaru, Come inside and listen to us. Please. This is about Lime. It's about all of us."
It wasn't until he was through the door that Otaru realized that Cherry had called him simply Otaru...not Otaru-sama.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SABER MARIONETTE J
By: The Dark Phoenix The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
Eps. 2: 'Eight'
"In the begining we only had one another"
Living risky, never scared,
Wander closer to the edge
Nothing valued think no fear,
Always wondering why you're here.
All your purposes are gone,
nothing's right and nothing's wrong.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained,
Feel no sorrow, feel no pain!
Kiss me while I'm still alive,
Kill me while I kiss the sky...
Let me die on my own terms,
Let me live and let me learn!
Now I'll follow my own way,
and I'll live on to another damn day!
Freedom carries sacrifice,
Remember when this was my life?
Looking forward, not behind.
Everybody's got to cross that line.
Free me now to give me place,
Keep me caged and free the beast...
Falling faster, time goes by,
Fear is not seen through these eyes.
What there was will never be!
Now I'm blind and cannot see!
Kiss me while I'm still alive
Kill me while I kiss the sky
Let me die on my own terms,
let me live and let me learn!
Now I'll follow my own way,
and I'll live on to another damn day!
Freedom carries sacrifice,
Remember when this was my life?
Kiss me while I'm still alive
Kill me while I kiss the sky
Let me die on my own terms,
let me live and let me learn!
Now I'll follow my own way,
And I'll live on to another damn day!!
Freedom carries sacrifice,
Remember when this was my life...
...Then they take it away...
~3 Doors Down - Life on my Own
This Alternate universe is written by The Dark Phoenix. Contact at The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bloodberry took a seat next to Otaru while Cherry prepared a pot of tea. Otaru waited silently as she worked. Bloodberry held her hands clasped in front of her face and silently gazed ahead at nothing. Otaru'd never seen her like that before. He was a little unsettled to see her so somber. The bad feeling that had pervaded his thoughts since they had first told him they had a secret they needed to share was getting stronger. Otaru swallowed and waited. He was getting tired of waiting, but there was nothing else for him to do. All in good time...
Finally Cherry came back and set down three cups and put the pot on the table. She filled the glasses and handed them out one by one. Taking her own cup she sat and waited. The silence hung heavy over the table. Keinaro was still sleeping in Otaru's room. In the silence all three of them could hear his rhythmic and heavy breathing. He was still out cold. Cherry figured he would be out at least another eight hours. Bloodberry really hit him hard despite pulling her punch at the last moment.
Finally, reluctantly, Bloodberry put her hand over Otaru's.
"Otaru, we want you to understand something. We have only been living here for a while, yet for all three of us it has been the happiest time of our lives. Everything that we've done, Otaru; every mistake we've made; every battle we've fought; every meal we've made; every gift we've ever tried to give you; every day that we have woken up here, in your own home, was for you. You were one of the first people to really ever show us kindness. You were the first one to ever take care of us in the caring way you do. You were one of the first to go out and sweat blood and tears for our own safety and happiness. You have loved each of us more than almost anyone else has in all our lives."
"Otaru-sama," Cherry said softly. "We love you more than anything else in this world. We would all gladly trade our souls to the devil if it would mean that you could live one more day in happiness. We have seen who you really are. We know that you worry for us because you care. We have never done anything, Otaru, without your happiness in mind. All the trouble we've been in, all the fights we've gotten into, all the times when you were sad and worried or angry with us were all done because we loved you and we wanted to do the right thing to make you happy."
"Otaru, We don't know what you will think, or say to us after we tell you this..." Bloodberry said squeezing his hand gently. "...But know that despite what you may say or do to us after this, good or bad, we will always love you. We will never cease loving you. We will never cease caring for you. Otaru we pray that you will never abandon us. We pray that you will never leave us alone in the same disheveled heap that you found us in that night. We pray that you will love us as much as we love you, always.
"We are telling you this because we feel that the time has come for you to know the truth about who we are. And if you choose to no longer harbor us after we have told you, or even if you choose to destroy us, we will understand. Any consequence you impose upon our lives for sharing this secret with you would never be as severe as if you decided to never love us again."
"Any punishment, any at all, if by your hands, would be heaven compared to our lives without your love." Cherry said, adding her hand on top of Bloodberry's. "Please understand, we are telling you this only because we love you. Please don't ever hate us for this love."
Otaru looked at each of them. Both Bloodberry and Cherry looked as if they were going to cry. They were pouring their hearts out to him. He could hear truth in their every word. Otaru realized that if he ever stopped loving them...he would lose them forever.
He began to feel ill. All the times he yelled at them for their mistakes, for their recklessness or their inability to learn came back to him, he'd been yelling at loved ones who were only trying to please him, who were only trying to show him that they cared for him in the only ways they knew how. All the time's he'd lost his temper at Bloodberry, or barked at Cherry, or made Lime cry came back in a very painful flood.
Bloodberry and Cherry saw Otaru turn his head away in shame.
"Otaru!"
"Otaru-Sama!"
Otaru shook his head, his hand quivering. "Despite everything I've ever done to you, despite everything I've ever said, or made you feel, you still love me? Despite everything?"
"Otaru-sama, you could never do a wrong by us. Never."
They saw him tense and raise his other hand. Placing it over theirs he looked back up.
"What ever you tell me, I promise I wont get mad. You can tell me anything in the world, I don't care. I'll never stop loving you three."
Cherry and Bloodberry smiled and blinked back tears. They put their hands over his and nodded. It was done then. They were ready to tell their story.
...well, almost...
No one noticed Hanagata until he let out a cry of shock. He stood framed in the doorway slack-jawed. Had Otaru just SAID that?!
"O-OTARU!!" He cried out. "Otaru, what did you just say?!"
Otaru groaned. Great. Now he'll have to deal with him.
"Hanagata!! What are you doing here?!"
But the lovesick little man took no heed and shuffled forward to him on his knees.
"Otaru~ How could you say that? I thought I was the only love in your life. How could you betray me?!"
As Hanagata came close, moaning and groaning, Otaru lifted his foot and planted it in Hanagata's face.
"Hanagata, I hate you! What the hell are you talking about?!"
Instead of reeling back in shock, Hana merely took Otaru's foot into his hands and began to cuddle it up and down on his face.
"Otaru, how could possibly mean that? We had such a connection. I could feel the electricity flowing between us. I could tell that you cared for me and that my love was being returned to you hundred fold. I thought that-"
Otaru finally pulled his foot loose and gave Hanagata a hefty kick in his face once more. Bloodberry rose.
"Will you please leave us alone! We have to tell Otaru something important!"
Hanagata jumped up and pointed a long finger of accusation at her.
"GAH! Quiet you, that dared corrupt my sweet love!! You are the reason why I must vie for his love and attention!! You are the ones who threaten to take my blessed Otaru from my life!! You who-"
He was about to go even further when Cherry spoke up.
"You hate us because we are not human."
Hanagata stopped. "What? Er... er, well, yes, I guess that's one of the reasons. BUT STILL MORE IMPORTANLY-"
Cherry interrupted him again.
"Bloodberry..."
Her partner looked down at her for a second and Cherry exchanged a glance with her. A moment later Bloodberry caught on.
"eh... WHAT?! Cherry!! NO!! Why him?!"
"Because I feel that we will need all the allies we can get. And besides..." She turned and looked up at him. "He's known us almost as long as Otaru. I think he has a right to know as well."
Hanagata's eyebrows arched. "Huh, what are you two talking about?"
Cherry momentarily ignored him and turned to Otaru.
"Otaru-sama, would you mind if we told Hanagata as well?"
He frowned a bit and scratched his head. "You two are telling this to me because you want to." He paused and regarded the now very confused Hanagata. "...I suppose if you feel you must tell him as well... it's your decision."
Bloodberry groaned and sat back down. She didn't want the little freak present, but if Cherry insisted...
The lovesick little man cocked his head a bit. "O-Otaru...what are you talking about?"
"Just come and sit here Hanagata. These two feel it is important that you learn the truth."
"Truth about what?
"They were about to tell me." He said turning back to the table. "Just sit down and listen."
Hanagata wasn't one to listen to those marionettes babble, but then again he wasn't one to turn down an offer to sit next to Otaru. Quickly he settled himself next to his love and cast doubtful glares at the dolls sitting across from him.
With everyone settled, Otaru folded his hands. "All right you two, what do you have to tell me?"
Bloodberry and Cherry exchanged looks once more. "How to start..." Bloodberry began.
"First, Otaru, tell us, what do you know about us?"
"Eh?" he seemed surprised. Weren't they supposed to be answering his questions? "Err, Well, not much. One day almost two years ago I was caught out in the middle of a severe plasma storm. It was the worst one I've ever seen in my life. I was huddling under some trees when a plasma bolt struck the ground. It was massive, lighting up everything with it's hard light. Every hair on my body stood up as it danced along the ground not ten feet from me. I covered my eyes thinking I was toast. But the bolt never touched me. When the blinding light and the noise subsided I opened my eyes and found you three. You were in the crater where the bolt had struck." He paused and took a sip of the tea. Hanagata sat by silently and said nothing. "I pulled you three out and when the storm had passed I took you home. You guys know the rest."
"You weren't surprised to find us in that crater, Otaru?"
"No, I was very surprised. I thought that perhaps you three had just been uncovered from the ground. I thought maybe you three had been buried or something. I guess I've never been able to figure out how you three got there."
"What about when you found that we weren't like all the other marionettes? What about then?"
"When I first saw you smiling at me I thought that I had been dreaming. I was very surprised! But time went on... and I learned that you three weren't just different from all the other marionettes, you were better. You could smile. I grew to love it when one of you smiled."
"Didn't you ever wonder why we were different, Otaru-sama?"
"At first," he replied. "But early on I realized that it didn't matter. You guys were special and you were mine. I didn't care or question how you came to me, who you were, or why you were what you are. I only cared that I would wake up the next morning and you three would be there."
Cherry nodded and everyone fell silent for a moment. She reached out and picked up the pot of tea.
"Otaru-sama, would you like some more drink?"
"Yes, yes please."
"Hanagata?"
"What? Oh...er, sure, fill it up."
After she had done so she put it back down Bloodberry continued by holding out her wrist.
"Otaru...uh, Otaru, you've...never really...touched us...have you?" Hanagata did a double take and sprayed tea everywhere.
"Huh? What do you mean by that? Of course I've held you three. What are you talking about?"
"No, no, no." She said shaking her head and taking his hand. "I mean like this."
She placed his palm over her wrist and held it there. Otaru furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at her.
"Bloodber-"
"Wait, Otaru...Just wait..." She said locking eyes for a moment.
"Tell me what you feel."
"Bloodberry, I feel you, of course-"
"No, Otaru, deeper. What do you feel?"
Otaru shook his head and looked at her wrist. "I can feel you're warm, most marionettes are cold which is another thing that's different about you. Umm..." He shook his head again. "Other than that nothing else."
Bloodbrry leaned in closer. "You don't feel that, Otaru?" Hanagata was on the floor foaming at the mouth. Otaru almost never touched him in any way except to hurt him.
"Feel what?"
She opened and closed her hand. "Don't feel those?"
Otaru shook his head slowly. "...No..."
"Otaru, my bones, my tendons, my muscles..."
At first he didn't understand, but then the oddity of it hit him. He COULD feel them! Otaru looked down and his eyes widened. He could feel them moving under her skin. Marionettes had a hard shell under their soft, plushy skin that kept the parts inside safe. When they moved you weren't supposed to feel the parts as they moved inside. But as he felt her move he could feel something move with in her wrist. It wasn't machinery. It really did feel like muscle...and bone...and...
He narrowed his eyes and stilled his hand.
...Was that...
"Bloodberry." he said in a breathless tone. "Bloodberry you have a pulse!"
Hanagata jumped up. "What?! A pulse? That's impossible. Marionettes don't come with pulses."
"You don't believe me?! Feel for yourself!" Otaru took Hanagata's hand and placed it over Bloodberry's wrist. A second later he pulled his hand back screaming.
"EIYAA!! What are you doing with a PULSE!?! Marionettes don't have hearts!! They can't have a pulse!!!!"
Bloodberry reached over and gave her wrist back to Otaru.
"Now Otaru...Look. Tell me what you see."
With his hand shaking he took Bloodberry's wrist.
"...Bloodberry."
"Do it Otaru. Please."
He slowly brought her wrist to his face and began to look at it. At first he only saw her skin. It was soft and warm in his hand. But then he noticed something he'd never seen before. Something, for two years, he'd managed to miss. God, had he been blind all that time? His breath began to catch in his throat.
"Bloodberry..." he said slowly. "Why do you have veins running up your arm?"
With a look of dread on his face, Hanagata looked over and stared at her arm in Otaru's hand. His eyes grew wide.
"M-m-m-mm-mmm-mm-mu-mu-muh-muh-muh-muh-MARIONETTES DON'T HAVE VEINS!!!!!!" he exploded, jumping backwards. Backing himself up against the wall he extended his finger and pointed in terror.
"W-Who are you?! What are you?! GEYAAAAH!!" He began to freak out.
Bloodberry ignored him and turned to Otaru. "Otaru, I need them...I was born with them...just like you."
Otaru mouthed a single word silently. 'Born...' His eyes suddenly lit up in understanding. He looked over to Cherry and she nodded also. He shook his head in disbelief and ran his fingers through his hair. His breathing picked up and his eyes widened in shock.
"L-Lime! What about her?!"
"All three of us are, Otaru-sama."
He sat there in utter disbelief. They couldn't be serious! There was no way! Terra II had never felt the footsteps of a...of a...
"I got it!!" Hanagata pointed with a crazed smile on his face. "You're all men DISGUISED as Marionettes!!"
No one paid the little blonde man any heed. Otaru had gotten thier message.
"G-g-gimme one second." He said quickly rising. They watched him disappear into the kitchen and a moment later they heard him digging around in the cupboards. Bloodberry and Cherry exchanged looks and sat there listening to him. Suddenly there was a clanking noise and a loud *POP*. Cherry arched her eyebrow at Bloodberry. She looked back at her a moment before realizing what Otaru was going after. Leaping to her feet she took off into the kitchen.
"Oh my god!! Otaru, the expensive Sake!!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hanagata sat a distance away from either of the freaks but as close to Otaru as he could. Cherry and Bloodberry wanted badly to sit next to Otaru and comfort him, but they were afraid of how he would react. Hana had finally realized what Otaru had and was still shocked.
There was a very good reason why they had veins and pulses and bones and muscles. They needed them for the same reason he and Otaru did. For the same reason any man on Terra II did.
...They were human.
They were real, flesh and blood creatures. Women, both of them. That was why they could laugh and cry and carry on conversation and fight like they did. They had real human brains in their heads.
Women...
They had to be the first. They were the first to EVER set foot on Terra II. Hana eyed them carefully. They could be the salvation of everyone on the planet. It was rumored in old legends that from women came incredible pleasure and offspring. Hanagata had no idea if either of these things were true. From the looks of them it would be incredibly difficult for any of them to harbor an unborn child until the time it hatched. He'd seen the cloning vats and knew that fetuses could get big before they were born. As for the pleasure part, from what he had seen by the type of clothes they wore they had no 'pleasure parts' to speak of like the other men on Terra II. He had no idea how they could possibly fill that department if they were missing the toolset. If pleasure meant their companionship and love...well, he'd known them all their time they were in Otaru's care and he hated them from first sight and ever since.
...So much for pleasure...
Otaru had his face buried in his hands. He was lost deep in thought. They were women all right. Real, live, honest to God women. Everything made sense all of a sudden to him. All their emotion and love was not generated artificially by a microchip but by a real thinking and reasoning brain. All this time he'd been adored by the first three real women on the planet and he still brushed them off and yelled at them. Even worse was that he never noticed any of these things before. Not once did he realize that they were more than what met the eye. What the hell had been wrong with him?
Even still, they told him that they still deeply loved them and trusted him enough to reveal who they really were. They were human, just like him.
...Just like him...
Otaru's eyebrows met. Or were they? They moved and fought just like combat dolls. They had their strength, agility, speed, stamina, everything. But if they were human how could they? Questions finally punched through the numbness in his mind.
Why could they do that? Who were they really? Where did they come from? How did they come to be...
He looked up at Cherry and Bloodberry. He started for a minute before he finally spoke.
"Ok...Ok... All right. Here come the questions. Where-"
Bloodberry cut him right off. "Wait, Otaru. We'll explain where we come from in a bit. It's a long story. You said you had a few other questions?"
"Fine..." He said nodding slowly. "Ok, fine... You three move like combat dolls, yet you tell me that you are human. No man in Japoness or even the world can move like you three do. No one except Keinaro has ever touched you three before. Why is that?"
"We and Keinaro are virtually the same." Cherry said slowly. "We both were born with enhancements that were designed to give our bodies specializations that would make us stronger than any of those born through regular cloning. The difference lies in experience. Hajima has gray eyes. He is an elite combat clone. He was taught combat in all its art and glory from a very young age. His entire life has been spent in training. We have only spent a few years training ourselves and, thus, are much, much less experienced than he."
Otaru cocked his head. "Huh? But you still won. What are you talking about?"
Bloodberry shook her head. "We only won because he let us."
His eyes narrowed a bit. "What?"
"Please trust me Otaru, if he were serious about killing us I would have died on that street. I'm not trained for killing like he is. I won because he didn't want to hurt me."
"But he ran from Cherry. He looked scared of her."
"That's because, Otaru-sama, he was a different type than I." Cherry said refilling Otaru's glass. "When we were born, we were born with different traits or attributes. I have enhanced my combat sensor, Bloodberry's worked on strength and muscle and Lime has speed. Each of these areas have a weakness to them that can be exploited by an opposite system. Combat sensors can be overcome by brawn, brawn can be overcome by speed and speed is overcome by combat sensors."
Otaru clasped his fingers loosely in front of his mouth. He was becoming confused. "What?"
"Combat sensors are designed to predict an enemy's move, but if won't help if you can't block or properly counter the enemies' attack because they are too strong. Their hits will break through any defense you put up.
"Brawn is all muscle though. While it's fast and rather strong, it's not THAT fast. Any one who has the speed trait can run circles around those with brawn. All that strength and they won't be able to hit anything. They'll strike at nothing but air.
"But speed won't help when you have a combat sensor system like mine, Otaru-sama. You can be as fast as you want to be but it won't help when the enemy knows when, where and how to block your every move just as you execute them. The combat system gives us that advantage of foresight.
"I am not telling you that these rules show what always happens. It isn't unheard of that a strong male defeats a faster one, or a faster one defeats a combat man. These rules are simply the guidelines upon which our skill is based upon."
Otaru and Hanagata were totally lost.
"What are you talking about? You three are human. No one I know is born with these, 'traits' or what ever you call them. Who has a combat sensor built into them? Nobody I know."
Cherry sighed. "Otaru-sama, were born with an endoskeleton."
"A what?"
"An endoskeleton. Like any of the warriors who were born in the high level cloning labs. You've never read about them in the history texts?"
Otaru shook his head. This was getting weird... "No, what's an endoskeleton?"
Bloodberry took over. "An endoskeleton is a wire net that encompassed the whole of our bodies. It was in us when we were born. All three of us were born with the exact same net. As our bodies grew and matured the net adapted and changed itself to suit the new conditions. It changed depending on our physical attributes and our personalities. It's really a blessing for us. On top of giving us our strength, power and attributes if we are ever wounded the net would heal it much faster than normal. I've heard stories of some who could do the opposite to themselves. They would be able to willingly wound themselves by causing a portion of the net to heat up and burn. They used this when they were undercover and had to pose as regular people. If their wounds healed too quickly it would give them away. Reopening them helped hide its healing ability."
Otaru was still shaking his head. "I've never heard of this before."
"Take our word for it, Otaru-sama." Cherry said softly. "This is what makes us different from you and Hanagata-sama. That is why we can do what we do."
Bloodberry muttered under her breath. "That's why we found that wire in Naro..."
Otaru groaned into his hands. He'd never heard about this 'endoskeleton' before. Not from anywhere. But there was no other way to explain what he had been told. It seemed he would have to take their word on it this once. Nodding slowly he looked back up. "Ok... Then what does this have to do Keinaro?"
"He was born in the same labs as us. He was born to kill, whereas Bloodberry and I were born for very different reasons."
"That doesn't tell me how you three were able to defeat him."
"He's both speed and strength, Otaru. He appears to lean much more toward speed though. His endoskeletal system has taken up its traits."
"What? He's both? How... Didn't you just finish telling me..."
Bloodberry chuckled. "The human body will change and evolve as you push it to its limits. Same thing with the skeleton. It's not uncommon for one such as he to learn to master two or even all three skills. Those that do are given the highest honors. They are the combat kings. They are never defeated. They have the counters, speed and brawn to take on all comers. They're given a special name."
Cherry nodded slowly. "Bishops..."
Otaru sat back and rubbed his eyes. "All right. Let's just assume that what you are saying is all true. I have never seen any man on Terra II with these qualities that you speak of. I've never seen or heard of any 'Bishops' around here. Where are these people?"
"Oh, I'm sure they're long dead Otaru-sama." Cherry said. "They're no longer around. They've been destroyed, or so we hope. A lot of time has passed since we left."
"Keinaro's very much around. He's sleeping on my bed."
Bloodberry chugged her tea and set the glass back down. "Otaru... this is where things are going to get very weird. Even more than what we've told you already. You're just going to have to continue to take our word for this, there is nothing else you can do. Please remember, Otaru, we are not lying to you, we only want you to know the truth."
"O...k..." He said very slowly.
Bloodberry nodded to Cherry and continued.
"Otaru-sama. We, all three of us, were born a very, very long time ago."
"How long?"
She paused. "...By what you tell us, close to seven hundred years."
Everyone was quiet at the table for a minute. Suddenly Hanagata stood up and started to walk swiftly away.
"Ok, that's it. I'm going back home."
Bloodberry reached out and dragged him back to his spot. "Sit down."
With a groan Hanagata slumped back down. Otaru frowned at Cherry.
"Seven hundred years? That's impossible. Are you telling me that he is seven hundred years old as well?" he said pointing to his room.
"No, Otaru-sama, you misunderstand. I didn't say we were that old. I said we were born seven hundred years ago."
Otaru's eye narrowed even further. "...Ok... Ok that's it! Just- just tell me. I want to know how you came to be. I want to know where you three were born. I want to know WHEN you three were born! Tell me everything. This nonsensical bullshit is loosing me. Don't talk to me in riddles or dodge my questions. Just give it to me straight. Tell me where you come from and how you were born so long ago and why that man who is sleeping in my room is doing so."
Slowly Cherry and Bloodberry nodded. This was it. Bloodberry took the lead of the story.
"All right, Otaru. Please hear us out. We will not lie to you. You want to know how we came to be, we will tell you. You too, Hanagata. You have as much right to know as Otaru, even if you are a queer little asshole."
Ignoring the now flaming Hanagata, Bloodberry took some tea and began.
"Our story really starts a few millennia ago. At the dawn of the second millennium of Earth's old recorded history they stumbled upon a scientific breakthrough. They'd finally mapped out human DNA. Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. DNA as you know, Otaru, is the code inside your body that regulates what cells do, what you look like, and sometimes how you think. DNA is the code that is you stored deep, deep inside your cells.
"Adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. These are the four components, or bases, that compose all DNA strands. Adenine to Thymine, and Cytosine to Guanine. Those two pairs in an infinite chain make up all DNA found in both man and woman. Yes, Otaru, Women have DNA almost exactly like men. Both are composed of the exact same building blocks, only in a different order.
"Now fast forward 50 years. By now cloning on Earth had been banned for moral reasons but that didn't stop scientists from playing God. They learned to chain and build complex DNA strands from scratch. They create the first human ever from DNA totally assembled by themselves using the Cytosine, Adenine, Guanine and Thymine extracted from their own blood. This human is a woman. She was aptly named Eve.
"When the world saw Eve they were amazed. She was of incredible beauty and grace. There were no other women on Earth who could compare to her. At first religious groups screamed and hollered about her, calling the scientists who created her monsters. Charges were brought up against them for their creation but were soon dropped after the courts realized that Eve wasn't a clone. She had been made entirely from scratch DNA bases. There were no laws preventing that.
"Eventually, as time passed, Eve came to be loved by all. She was renowned by all for her kindness, humbleness and generosity. She made her creators very rich, but she belonged to no one. The courts had ruled that because she was a human she had all the rights given to such and was not considered property. Often she would give what she had to the poor. She would donate time and money and influence toward peace. She became wise to the ways of man and learned how to help him. Up until the day she died she was loved and respected by all. Those who had been for her destruction at first changed their ways as they saw her push herself as she did for the safety and happiness for her fellow man. Surely, they reasoned, such a beautiful creature with such a heart is not a curse brought about by technology, but a blessing given to them from thier God or Gods on high.
"Eve lived to be one hundred and sixty years old, a testament to her gene encoders. She outlived them by almost one hundred years. The whole world mourned her loss and it was decided that unless necessary, another like her should never be made. People were still cautious about gene manipulation and decided that creating another Eve would be like shaming her name. She was like a Goddess. She lived as best she could and touched an entire planet. It took a long time for those who felt her kindness to go back on with their lives.
"It was a funny decision to be sure, but it was one they made. Time passed again and eventually Mesopotamia left Earth. On her way to colonize a new planet the computer core with an experimental AI system malfunctioned and killed the entire crew except 6 men who escaped in a landing vessel down to a cold and barren planet. Afterwards Mesopotamia misfired her boosters and plummeted to the same planet and destroyed herself upon it.
"At a loss as how to survive without women, those six men decided it was best to clone themselves in order to stay alive. They used their own DNA as a map to make more men and soon they started to turn the broken and barren rock that was this planet into the Terra II we know of today.
"However, they were obsessed with women. They still desperately wanted to have their own. To have a woman and have a real child of their own were actions all six men constantly yearned for. Eventually, as they started to spread across the planet, they came across the wreckage of Mesopotamia. There, they found the keys they were looking for to realize their dreams.
"When Mesopotamia left Earth, she had in her Data Cores all of the knowledge Earth had to offer for them. Included in this database were the maps to basic Male and Female DNA codes. The 6 men didn't need the male codes - each one had their own set of codes inside their own bodies inside each of their cells. However basic female encoding was a little harder to come by. Somehow those six were able to salvage the data core from the wreckage and bring it back home. There they found what they were looking for...
"...Well, almost. The Data core had been severely damaged and all they were able to pull from the woman's DNA map were bits and pieces of code. They learned that the only way they were ever going to get real live women back onto the planet was by guessing and checking with the last bits of the code. Realizing that the task could take them hundreds of years because of the complexity of the missing pieces they decided to create someone who would continue their work and realize their dream one day. This man was a combination of all six men. He was called Zero. Later, after the original six finally died leaving the care of Terra II in his hands, he took the new name- Ghenna.
"He ruled over Terra II for many, many years, re-cloning himself when ever needed, copying his memories from one clone to another, and re-cloning the original 6 as per their requests. He divided the 6 men into 6 kingdoms and let them rule each of the kingdoms under him. The 6 took orders only from him. It was ironic because while in the beginning they had been the creators, in the end he was their master.
"Ghenna built a mighty empire on top of the 6. It was called Mesopotamia, after the fathership that carried us to this world, and upon this empire he continued to research woman. He used the incomplete information from the Data core and the best science teams he had to continue the testing. Using logical combinations of DNA they ran possible strands through the central computer and used it to see if the code would theoretically be stable or not.
"After two hundred years and Ghenna's fourth re-birth as a clone they finally completed the first logical string of code. They strung it together in hopes that a female would be created. The creature that was born wasn't even human. It lived a short and miserable life after it was disconnected from the respirator and heart machine that kept it alive. Ghenna was very unhappy at the results, but he knew that they were on their way to creating the first woman ever made on Terra II. He held back his anger in hopes that the science team would continue their progress.
"Time and time again they tried and time and time again only mutations came out of the spawning pool. Finally on the fifth try what came out was human. Or so they thought. The creature was horribly mentally deficient. After three weeks they killed her and went back to redirecting the code. On the next try, their code was better. The woman that was born was much more competent but still handicapped to a degree. It was said that when she was killed she knew what was going to happen and fought bitterly to save herself.
"Finally they decided that seven was to be their lucky number. They tested out twenty different combinations of their known code to see what would result. Out of the twenty, only 15 were born. Out of 15 only eight were deemed stable. These eight were considered to be the first real females ever to walk the face of Terra II. These were the women that the original six dreamed about. Their vision had finally come true."
Bloodberry stopped and sipped some tea. Otaru swallowed.
"Bloodberry, Cherry, are you two-"
Bloodberry cut him off and pulled her hair away from her neck and turned her head. There was a small hole on the nape of her neck that looked like a small socket for a plug and above that, a small roman numeral. It had been tattooed on.
"I was number 17. Cherry was 5."
Otaru and Hanagata sat back. They had become speechless. For the first time in Hanagata's life he had no idea what to say. This was too much to handle so quickly. What they were saying couldn't be true, could it? If so why were there no women around today? Where did Mesopotamia go? Why aren't there any records of it even existing? Why...
Otaru's mind raced as well. The same questions were surfacing. Bloodberry reached over and took hold of his shoulder. He jumped at her touch.
"Otaru..."
He looked back at her silently. Slowly she let her arm fall and Otaru stood. He began to pace back and forth, his chin cupped between two fingers and eyes closed pensively. Slowly he moved across the floor letting what they had just told them sink in. They were created by taking DNA, breaking the bases apart and putting them back together in the proper order for women. They were created in a lab over one half millennia ago by a civilization he'd never heard of. And they were now sitting by him, telling them their story...
Finally he shook his head and sat back down.
"All right." He said with a sigh. "What happened next?"
Bloodberry nodded with a small smile and let Cherry take over.
"Otaru-sama, our experiences at birth were all very similar. Everything was a deep haze, all we could really remember was cold, blinding white and the smell. There was this permanent smell of artificial embryonic fluid in the air. That was something we all distinctly remember. That and the light...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All eight of them were sleeping soundly in their rooms, all resting on their tables. The tests showed that they were mentally stable and their DNA codes were solid. They'd finally done it. They had created women. These eight were the true Eves of Terra II. They were created from man, and from them new life would spread. Each of them were isolated in their respective rooms sleeping like infants.
Ghenna passed by each one and smiled every time he looked inside through the one-way mirror. He was aging and growing thin. His face was narrow, his lips thin. His eyes were two stones set deep into their own ancient sockets. They were a faded cerulean, shifty, hard, and very, very cunning. Some people said they even glittered depending on his mood. When his anger was peaked his eyes seemed to glitter like two angry jewels. When he was pleased they were cool and flat. Ghenna was known for his eyes. His empire was all but built upon them.
Beside him was a much larger man than himself. The man looked much younger than his master Ghenna. He was tall, imposing and very strong. He was one of the special breeds, revealed by his gray eyes. They were flat and at most times emotionless. He was very special. He had worked his way to the top of the elite hunter breeds. He was the biggest, strongest and fastest combat hunter in existence. He wasn't simply a Bishop, He was the Arch-Bishop of all the combat Bishops in the whole of the land. He was a hunter/killer who had mastered all three corners of the combat chart to their finest detail. He was as fast as they came, as strong as they came, and as cunning as they came. Unstoppable in combat, this Arch-Bishop was the pride and joy of Ghenna. He went by the name Kaiser.
Slowly he followed behind his leader and peered into each of the rooms. So these were women...
Ghenna's smile seemed to deepen. "Look at them Kaiser. Just look! Women! Real women like this world as never seen before!! Gorgeous, aren't they? Beautiful work, all of them!"
Kaiser cocked his head. "Beautiful? They all have bags of flesh hanging from their chests and they seem to be missing..." he trailed off and bent his head to stare at one of the women. "...Missing their reproductive organs."
Ghenna laughed. "Kaiser, Kaiser, Kaiser. Those bags of flesh are for babes to suckle and feed upon when they are first born, and their organs for reproduction are on the inside. They are meant to receive the seed of man inside their bodies where children grow. Fascinating when you think about it."
Kaiser shook his head. "Their hair, It has no color."
"Because, my dear boy, they are just hatched. They breached their cells only six hours ago. Hair color wont form for another two weeks minimum."
"And they are born as adults?"
"No they're still children at heart, Kaiser. We aged them some so that we can take advantage of their reproductive abilities sooner. The children they eventually will bear will be of normal size."
Kaiser shook his head anyway. "So now we have to teach them how to speak, and how to read and all the basics of learning and knowledge."
Ghenna laughed once again. "No, no. We have imprinted memories of knowledge in their minds already. They know everything they need to know to talk and read and such. All they have to do is remember it."
"It will still be teaching children." he said regarding them with a scowl. "Are you sure these eight are fully competent?"
"Yes, Kaiser. We are sure. Here, come over here and take a look at this!" Ghenna said walking down to the end of the row. He pointed inside to the woman lying under covers on the small bed. "Her tests indicate her mind is operating at a much higher level than the other seven. We think it has to do with something in the DNA code we gave her. Do you know what this means?"
"Not a clue."
"It means that she could be a psychic! She could have psychic powers!"
Kaiser sniffed. "Great, all we need are more psychics and harbingers of doom on this God forsaken rock..."
Ghenna kicked Kaiser in the leg. "No, you idiot, I don't mean one of those magic eight ball psychics. Not those palm readers or Tarot card frauds. I mean a real psychic. A woman with real psycho-kinesis. She could possibly read minds, manipulate objects with mere thought or even cause some real destruction..."
Kaiser turned back and looked at the woman. She slept peacefully on, as innocent as any child in their crib. Could such a small creature really have this power his master was talking about? Kaiser watched the woman sleep for a few moments longer.
"So they don't have the same organs us men have, huh Lord Ghenna?"
"No." He said shaking his head. "They have cavities in their place where they receive the seed of man. It is said that each one of these women are capable of giving exquisite pleasure to their lovers. I intend to find this out first hand! I look forward with joy to this." He turned and looked up at Kaiser. "Wouldn't you like one or two as your own, Kaiser? They would make excellent servant mates and you too can partake of their pleasure."
Kaiser chuckled and turned to walk away. "I don't need servants, and I've never really been into other men myself. What makes you think I would want a woman?"
Ghenna watched him walk off a moment before bursting out into laughter. "HaHA! Kaiser, you will be missing out if that is your decision! I'm offering you the first women ever to walk upon Terra II and you turn them down? Either you are truly uninterested in them, you are indeed very foolish!"
Kaiser merely shook his head and raised his arm behind him. He no intention of coupling with those disgusting creatures out there. This was one honor he was glad to pass up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passed as it always did and slowly each of the women stirred to life. Inside their own cells they were shut away from anyone else. They were in contact with no living thing, just as Ghenna had ordered. They were to be studied to make sure that the memory imprints that had been done had been done correctly. Ghenna also wanted to make sure that each of them was perfectly healthy with no flaws or defects in their physical state. Each one was closely observed behind their thin pane of glass.
All of them were confined to a small fifteen by fifteen room. The walls were stark white, the ceiling the same, as was the ground. The only thing in there other than themselves was the single bed and the toilet. Much to Ghenna's utter delight each of them remembered to use it almost from the beginning. After once or twice of using the floor or a corner the smell got too bad for them and they remembered what to do correctly.
Food was provided through a little slot in the floor that opened only when they were asleep. They wore nothing. It was Ghenna's request that they remain as pure as possible for as long as possible. He was fascinated with their natural state. Their bodies were new and exquisite to him. Each one was different. From their wide, curvaceous hips up to their slim waists down to their smooth legs he took a distinct pleasure in observing them. He remembered old stories the original six used to tell him about how women's legs would be smooth and silky when the skin was totally bare. Upon finding that hair was supposed to naturally grow along their legs, Ghenna had the DNA science team omit that line of code. The key code was changed to remove hair from other places, stop imperfections from growing, control any acne they might have and whatever other cosmetic imperfections they might come across. They were to be perfect and pure, a symbol of the might and power of mankind.
Some were of smaller stature, others were much larger. Some seemed to have developed more than others as well. Some were taller, some were stronger, some were more petite. As they observed the girls their natural hair color came out. Surprisingly, their color seemed to match their personalities. Ghenna was delighted to find this. Some had fiery red hair that seemed to come out at all angles and match tempers of the same degree. Others had cooler hair color that flowed down and around smoothly which matched much more complacent attitudes.
As they furthered their studies they began to classify and label each woman they had created. Eventually Ghenna decided to name them and give them the attributes given to their own elite soldiers. These women were to be creatures above all men, so it would be fitting that their bodies suited such a nature.
Most of the woman's bodies seemed to naturally suit one of the three named physical states granted by the system. Ghenna went from window to window and watched each of them. He took down notes as to their personality, hair color, recommended attribute, and anything else he took notice of. They were all different and new to him. His notes went as follows:
#7
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Physical build: Medium
Recommended System: Her frame supports both speed and power.
Notes: Possible Psychic. Appears to have a very strong will. Seems to be very light hearted. Has qualities for leadership.
Name: Leska
#5
Hair Color: Purple
Eye Color: Blue
Physical Build: Small
Recommended System: Frame supports only pre-emptive combat system.
Notes: Seems to be very calm, very tranquil. Underdeveloped feeding sacks could pose problem as a birth mother. Despite this, seems to have some qualities for breeding.
Name: Satomi
# 10
Hair Color: Blue
Eye Color: Blue
Physical Build: Medium
Recommended System: Pre-emptive Combat System.
Notes: Very observant. Seems to be a perfect match for combat system. Very cool and relaxed. Good-natured.
Name: Krysta
#6
Hair Color: Blue
Eye Color: Green
Physical Build: Small
Recommended System: Speed
Notes: Seems very lithe and agile. Her smallish frame is perfect for a speed system. Very sullen though. Seems to be bit moody, sometimes dour. A problem that may need to be fixed later on.
Name: Aisha
#3
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Physical Build: Medium
Recommended System: Speed
Notes: Fourth one born with blue eyes, I think we have mastered the art of that eye color. Perhaps I will have to mention it to science team to vary it a bit more next time. This one shows promise in area of speed despite slightly larger frame. Very active. Could also specialize in the area combat strength.
Name: Nanaka
#14
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Brown
Physical build: Small
Recommended System: None yet.
Notes: This one is very peculiar. Seems to be the cleverest out of the whole group. Posses no real strength in any of the given areas. However shows promise as a birth mother. Has very gentile demeanor. Body and build seem well suited for task of breeding.
Name: Katsumi
#18
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Red
Physical build: Large
Recommended System: Combat strength.
Notes: Appears to be rather aggressive. Body is built for strength and power. Would be well suited for sheer brawn. Possible loose cannon, though.
Name: Aiko
#19
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Brown
Physical Build: Large
Recommended System: Combat Strength.
Notes: This one, as well, appears to be aggressive. Her physical stature is also well suited for combat strength. Less likely to be a loose cannon than Aiko, might be a strong leader.
Name: Asuka [Author's note: :P]
For the first few weeks they led solitary lives. They knew of no other people other than themselves. They realized that they knew things that had been sitting in the back of their minds for the longest time. Katsumi, Aisha and Leska all on their own remembered language and how to talk. While their speech was far from perfect, Ghenna smiled when he heard their broken language flow from their mouths. He knew that with a little practice they would remember everything and that broken tongue could become whole.
Their voices were music to him. They were much higher than those of most men. At first the science teams though that there had been something wrong with their vocal cords. After they found they were fine they thought the problem lie in the DNA string, but when they went back to check it they found the pattern for vocal cords had been recovered in the data core. In the end they figured that their voices were exactly as they should be.
Their voices were sweet and melodious (to themselves) and rang like the finest instruments. Even their senseless chatter with themselves was like the song of the sweetest bird. Accepting the women's higher-than-normal voices came naturally to the men in the end. Things they also noticed were the way the women walked. They moved with grace and fluidity, unlike most men. They were a little unsteady at first, but memory and instinct helped them gain poise. After they got walking down, jumping and running came with ease, though they didn't have very much room to do either.
They learned most other things those first few weeks by themselves, but the time came when Ghenna decided that they learn about others. They would learn that there are others out there besides them and they would slowly learn how to interact with one another. Hopefully language would spring forth more naturally as well as other social skills. It was decided almost unanimously by the science team that clothing would be held off until a later date. To this day the real reasons behind their decision remain clouded in mystery...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One morning the women awoke to find an opening in their four walls. They were very curious at first. To all of them their little world had suddenly changed in a drastic way- There was a hole that went somewhere in their room. To most of them this concept was totally new. There was more out there than they had first originally thought. The four walls that was the scope of their lives now had a hole in it. Their own world, for the first time ever, expanded.
Ghenna decided that at first they would only meet one other girl. That way the shock wouldn't be so dramatic. Despite that, when they first met their partner utter shock was what best described the moment. Ghenna watched with a smile as they met. Fear, caution and shock were what he saw most of.
He decided to pair Aisha and Satomi together because of their sizes. Aisha was the more curious of the two and traveled down her hallway first. When she came to the end she found herself in a larger room than the one she had previously come out of. The roof above her was made of glass. As she looked up she saw, for the first time in her life, inky blackness. It was the first time she had ever seen the sky. It was still very early in the morning hours and the sun had not yet come up. The whole room was lit by soft lights that hugged the walls along the ground. While they were dim, she still could see everything. The room was much larger than her old one. She saw what looked like beds, only they were bent upwards at an angle. They were bent beds. As she focused in on these she seemed to remember their names. They came up out of the blur of her mind and manifested themselves. They were "seats", or "chairs". One of the two, she couldn't remember exactly. They looked so soft...
As she started to head over to them a sound to her left caused her to jump. Until then, she had never heard any sounds anywhere except the ones made by herself. Her heart began to beat and race as she looked over. What was that?!
It was another woman.
At first Aisha thought that it was another "mirror", like the one inside her old room. But she noticed that the person was not standing but squatting down. She also noticed that her hair was not blue, like her own. It was purple.
"Mirror?" She said looking over to the new girl. "Funny mirror?"
She giggled and walked over. "Funny mirror!"
But the girl who she thought was a mirror squeaked and took a few steps back. Aisha stopped dead in her tracks. She realized that this wasn't a mirror. This was another... her! Her mind began to formulate words and these words began to form into sentences. Was she real? Could she talk? I am not alone! These thoughts ran through Aisha's head in a flash.
"I... not...Ah, Al...l...lone." She stammered out. "Not alone... Not alone!!"
With a cheerful giggle she ran forward to this new person wanting to see who it was, but to her dismay the girl squeaked again and ran further down the tunnel where she turned and looked back at Aisha.
"Aiii..." Aisha said sadly. Why was she running? I want to meet her. Her mind began to form words again.
"W-wait! No... No, rrrun! W-wait!" Slowly came out. The girl at the end of the tunnel didn't move. Aisha took a step forward and the other girl took a step back. Aisha frowned.
"No! No run!"
She took anther step forward. The girl took a step back.
"Bahakana!" she spat in frustration, kicking the ground. What was wrong with her? She wanted to meet her! Why was she running? Aisha sat down and curled her legs close. The other girl did the same. They watched each other for at least 10 minutes. Aisha became frustrated. She'd realized that every time she moved forward, that girl would move back. So she reasoned that she couldn't go forward.
'Maybe Aisha catch her!' She thought. But no, she quickly discarded that idea. Maybe she would go away for good if she did. There had to be a better way. Aisha began to reason with herself.
I can't meet her. She doesn't "talk." She "sits." When I move toward her she runs away. She won't come to me. Why won't she come to me? I want to meet her. I want to meet her, why won't she come?
"Scared?" Aisha said aloud suddenly. The girl at the other end of the hallway jumped. 'Why...why would she be scared?' Aisha thought.
"Hungry!" She said leaping up. The new girl squealed and jumped to her feet and backed away a few more steps. Aisha ignored her for a moment and turned around smiling knowingly. She took off back through the new room and down her old tunnel. When she reached her old room she ran over to her bed and reached under it. Hidden away in the gear works underneath it was a small handful of dry food. They were like pellets. They were small and of a brownish color, but they were sweet and good to eat. Aisha had been storing them away whenever she ate, just in case something happened or she felt the urge for a few munchies.
Taking them she rushed back up the tunnel and surprised the new girl who had peeked her head out from her tunnel wondering what had happened to her. With a startled yell she took off back down her passageway again. Aisha rounded the corner with a large grin on her face. She watched as the new girl sat down at the other end and begin watching her like before.
Aisha took the food she had collected and placed it on the ground in front of her. She saw as the girl at the other end immediately perked up. She recognized the food almost immediately. Aisha reached down and took a few and ate them. She made sure she had the other girl's full attention. Then dividing the food into two piles she pushed one pile away from herself to the other girl. To Aisha's delight the other girl rose and cautiously made her way forward.
Slowly she inched her way closer. Aisha smiled disarmingly and waited cross-legged for the other girl to come closer. When she reached the small pile, she slowly and very, very cautiously extended her hand outwards toward it. Taking a pellet from the pile she retreated a bit and squatted down eyeing Aisha suspiciously. Aisha giggled and watched her munch on in. Swallowing, the other girl began to smile. It was real food.
Slowly she came forward again. This time she sat down some distance from the food and reached her hand out only when she thought it was safe. Aisha chewed a few more of the sweet pellets thoughtfully. She wasn't very hungry and thought of a better idea for the food. She took what was left of her pile and pushed it towards the new girls rapidly diminishing pile. The new girl saw this and flinched back a bit, but realized that Aisha was only giving her more. She smiled and took a few more not realizing that Aisha had inched her way a few inches closer.
She watched with amazement as the new girl ate with relish. She seemed very hungry.
"Hungry." Aisha said proudly. The other girl looked up and began to smile. She swallowed a pellet and lunged forward suddenly hugging Aisha. Aisha was caught totally off guard by this and squeaked nervously. This new girl was heavy, and warm, and smelly! But it took Aisha three seconds to get past those. It was the first time she had ever been touched by anything else. Smiling back Aisha hugged her back. She had no real idea what they were doing, but it felt good. Some smudged memory told her it was all right. Aisha giggled to her new friend and pulled away a bit. She stared back into the new girl's face. She was so soft and warm. Aisha ran her palm up her cheek and felt her shoulders and arms and down to her belly. She was real! She was really real!
The new girl stroked Aisha's hair and smiled. She'd come to the same conclusion herself. She leaned forward and put her ear to Aisha's chest bone. Something she learned was that she made a noise, deep inside her own chest. Whenever she lay down on her bed she could hear it throbbing through the cushions and springs. She wanted to see if Aisha had the same thing. Aisha cocked her head and giggled. What was she doing? Her ear was cold!
She saw her new friend's face light up as she heard Aisha's heart beating steadily inside her. She jumped up excitedly and hugged Aisha with all her might. Aisha smiled and hugged her back as well. She was really real! She was just like her! Finally they broke and sat back down looking at each other. Aisha pointed her thumb at herself and smiled.
"Aisha!" She said proudly. She new that sound was a "name", more specifically "Her Name". She wondered if this new girl had one too.
"Aisha!" she said again. "Aisha Aisha Aisha!" She said energetically. She was very excited. This was all new to her.
The new girl cocked her head for a second wondering what she was doing. Realization dawned on her face and she smiled. She took her finger and pointed to her friend.
"Aisha?"
"Aisha! Aisha! Aisha!" She said again hopping up and down.
The new girl smiled. "Aisha!"
"Aishaaa!"
The new girl paused for a moment and began to think hard to herself. Slowly she tried to talk.
"Sa-Sa-Sato-mi! Sato-mi!" she struggled out. This was the first time she ever tried formulating words. Upon learning Aisha was her friend's name a vague term surfaced in her memory. She remembered that it was her own "name." Name. Satomi.
"Sato-omi!" She tried to say. "Sat- Satomi"
Finally she nailed it. "Satomi!! SatomiSatomiSatomi" She said clapping her hands energetically. They both giggled. It was the first time they ever communicated with someone else and it was becoming an exciting experience.
Ghenna watched how each of the women interacted with one another. He learned several new attributes about them by watching them. Satomi was a little bit more clever than he had originally thought. She was also much more shy. Aisha wasn't to stupid herself. He had been impressed at her method of attracting Satomi to her. She'd surprised him. She'd been the only one to think of hoarding her own food for any reason. Very impressive indeed.
Krysta and Nanaka were paired up, along with Aiko and Asuka. Leska and Katsumi were the last pair to be joined up. Every pair seemed to get along quite well. Aiko and Asuka seemed to be a tad hostile to each other at first but their natural curiosity over came their caution and they became the closest pair in the whole group. Krysta and Nanaka got along very nicely as well. Leska and Katsumi paired up well too. Ghenna couldn't help but notice how Leska seemed to know someone was coming when Katsumi was traveling down her own tunnel, even before she reached the new common room.
The glass above, in the new room, showed what appeared to be the sky. It really was a display screen that only showed an image of the sky. As the sun rose on Terra II so did it rise on the screen. At first they were intrigued as to what it was they were seeing. Eventually they correctly labeled it as "Sky" but had no real idea as to what it really was. Ghenna smiled knowing that they would learn soon enough.
Language first developed faster than he had originally expected, but ended up taking much longer than was planned. Most of the women tended to make up their own noises or sounds for objects instead of using the names that should have come easily from memory. But at least they were talking. They were communicating and that was important. All that Ghenna was looking for was for them to express ideas and thoughts in the form of noises and sounds.
"Ne, Satomi?"
"Eah?"
"Know why every time..."
"Hey, Aiko."
"Huh?"
"Look out there, what see you..."
"Hehehe, Stupid Naka."
"NANAKA!"
"Hahaha, make no difference."
"Bah! Idiot Krys!"
"GAH?!"
"Leska-chan?"
"Hmm?"
"Have any-"
"No, sorry. Ate all of it."
"Oh..."
Ghenna watched them play, and cuddle and talk and interact and even fight. He knew that it was the first time any of them were experiencing any of these emotions and he was taking pleasure in watching them live them out. They were his lambs beginning to live out their lives in peace and harmony. Soon, he figured, they will come to sexual maturity. And when they do...
He smiled. He'd always wanted a son... why not eight?
Kaiser watched the women mature and grow with a slight displeasure. They were like wild animals. He couldn't see any reason for Ghenna to be enjoying them this much. If he were in charge, they would be destroyed and this practice would never be dabbled in again.
...But he wasn't. And he had to stand by watch them as much as Ghenna commanded. He'd been through the dorms while they were asleep before. They smelled, the whole lot of them. But then again, seeing as they had never washed before it made sense. They were all ratty and dirty and smelly. He hated going through there for any reason. But sometimes duty called and he was forced to trek through their pigsty. He knew what Ghenna planned on doing later on. It would only be a matter of time. He only hoped that he would never have to couple with such... DIRTY creatures. Never.
Down the road Ghenna planned on having two pairs meet up. It wasn't too bad of an idea. They'll need more human interaction and that would help their language and interaction skills. Kaiser just hoped that they would install pools or something of that nature to help with their own hygiene. They needed a few badly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ghenna watched the women grow emotionally he began counting down days. The next plan was to pair up two pairs and expand their common rooms. In the end all their dorms will be linked together like one giant hamster maze. He wanted to know how fast they would learn and figure out these tunnels and passages. But that was sometime down the line after he had grouped all of them up.
For the moment he decided to pair up the pairs. With the science teams approval he opened a new passage in their common room. This new tunnel sloped upwards into a newer, larger common. Much to Kaiser's displeasure they hadn't installed a bathing pool yet. There were a few seats, and even larger view of the sky and even a glass floor from which they could see down into what appeared to be a complex cave. "Tunnels" was the name that they ended up giving them.
Ghenna paired up Aisha and Satomi with Krysta and Nanaka. Aiko and Asuka with Leska and Katsumi. All four of the pairs were very surprised to find a new doorway in their own rooms. Very slowly, and in pairs (They almost never left each other's side for any reason now.) they traveled up this new passage. When they reached the top they found their new room.
...And the other pair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Satomi. Where is Aisha?"
She looked up over at Nanaka and shrugged. "Dun' know. Aisha's always going off to other places now. Dun' know where."
Krysta, who had been laying on her back catnapping, looked up. "Think she went down to the smaller rooms."
"Why? How come she always runs off like that? Where does she go? 'S boring down there all 'lone."
"Go down and ask Naka. Maybe she tell you."
"Sh' never smiles any more. She's so sad and frowny."
Satomi giggled. "That even a word?"
"Neh, poor Aisha. She never's happy no more. How come? What happened to her?"
Krysta sat up and shook her head. "Dun' know. I go see now then. I be back in a little time."
Satomi waved. "Ok."
Krysta walked down the tube and began to take a look through all the rooms. Aisha was down there some where, It was just a matter of where. She found her sitting inside her old room leaning against a wall.
"Aisha." she smiled. Aisha looked up momentarily startled and smiled back.
"Krys."
"Why are you doing down here? What is wrong?"
Aisha leaned back and closed her eyes. "Dun' know. Dun' feel like talking much."
"Lay back, sleep then. Why you down here? No smiled very much 'nymore."
Aisha clutched her arms and turned her head away slightly. "Jus' thinking. Dun feel like talking much any more."
"And smile?"
"Hehe, no smile any more? I guess nothing new, nothing to smile at."
"Satomi still smile, Naka too. How come you don't?"
"Dun' know. Just don't feel like it I guess..."
Krysta frowned. "Aisha sick?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No, maybe you're right. I need to smile more. Smile, smile, eh?"
Krysta smiled and pulled Aisha up. "Smile, Aisha! We all there is. Come back up."
She turned and started to walk away up the tunnel. Aisha stood and turned to the little mirror she had in her wall. She wasn't so sure about them being all there was. On more than one occasion she thought she saw something move in it. Not a reflection like everything else in there, but more of a shadow moving behind it. She was sure there was something on the other side of that glass. Who built this place? Who gave them food? Who opened the doors? She was positive that there was more out there than what met the eye.
'We are all there is.'
Aisha shook her head and turned to walk back up the tunnel. No, there was something else out there. She knew it. They weren't alone.
Behind the glass two science technicians watched Aisha go. The one on the left turned to his partner.
"You don't think she knows about us? Do you?"
"Knows about us?! The hell are you talking about?"
"Well, every once and a while she'll turn to the glass and it's like she's looking right through it at us."
"Bull. Now you're sounding like Delta team. They tell us that the psychic one does the same thing. It's all bullshit. You know the stories about the women of old. They're all vain bitches, the whole lot of them. They're probably just preening themselves, marveling at their own figures."
"Yeah... but even still-"
"Even still nothing. Just do your job and quit worrying about them. Those women probably can't even tie their own shoes much less see through a mirror. They're stupid. They can't even talk right."
"But-"
"Hey, Just shut up all right?! Leave the worrying to me. Drop this."
The other man sighed and shook his head. "Yes sir."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week later Aisha had a dream. It was night time and all four of them were sleeping soundly on the floor of their largest common. Even though it wasn't cold at all they still cuddled close savoring each other's warmth. Aisha was in the middle with her head resting on Nanaka's soft belly.
She was no stranger to dreams. She always had them. They were simply an extension of her day when she slept. She never questioned them. They were always pleasant. Often she would be spending happy times with her new friends. Other times she would be dreaming about wandering about their cavern. Still other times about sleeping. She had very little exposure to any outside world and thus her thoughts kept to what little she knew. Rarely she dreamed about the "tunnels" under their feet in the common and falling gracefully down into them and exploring a bit, or about flying through the glass window above and holding that warm, glowing orb that gave them light everyday. Every so often she would dance with the stars and swim with the clouds. After these nights she would wake up happy and refreshed and would smile often in the morning and through that day.
But that night the dream was very different. She was running. Deep down in the tunnels. There was little light and everything was becoming very dark. For the first time in her life she felt fear. Cold, hard, unreasoning fear. She could tell there was something behind her. Something that she knew wanted her. She wasn't sure of what it was exactly, but it was big- She could tell. It was very big.
"Monster"
It was terrible. She wanted to escape it. She wanted it to go away. She didn't want to hurt. She didn't do anything to it, but it was chasing her nonetheless. ...And it was getting closer.
Aisha wanted to fly away like she did in her other dreams. She wanted to rise above the ground and blast away at astonishing speeds. She could escape the tunnels if she could only rush away. But her feet never left the ground. They stayed firmly on the solid earth, holding the rest of her body with them.
Aisha began to panic. She did not like this in the least. Not at all. Why couldn't she run away. It was going to catch her. It was going to hurt her. She had this terrible feeling that it was going to hurt her badly. It so wanted to hurt her.
With a cry of dismay she tumbled to her knees. With out so much a look back she scrambled up and started to run... and found herself in one of the tubes. With out so much as a second thought she tore down it with as much speed as she could muster. The lights were dim and the tube took a much more creepy tone. The light was beginning to fade as she dashed on and everything was becoming dark. Risking a glance back down the tunnel she saw something terrible.
It was a pair of eyes. They were coming after her. They were blank eyes; totally white. They were angry eyes aimed at her. As Aisha ran she could see them getting steadily closer. Her mind, now in a complete state of utter panic and terror, went into a frenzy. Screaming at the top of her lungs she dashed headlong into the inky blackness praying that she could move fast enough to get away from this terrible monster.
Suddenly she ran into something and came to a complete stop. She slipped and fell right onto her ass. It hit the hard ground with a cold smack. She looked up and saw a figure standing before her. It was huge. Bigger than Naka or Krysta, it was full head taller than Aisha. And it was muscular. Very muscular. It was very bulky. Its face was hidden in the shadows, Aisha couldn't see very much of it. She looked around and found that the tunnels had disappeared. She was out on a large flat plane. The sky above was black and the ground the same white as the color of the tubes, the stark white.
Swallowing she looked up at the large person in front of her. She'd never seen anyone like him before.
"Him? What is 'him'?" She thought to herself. Before she had a chance to think anymore the tall figure took a step back.
"What-"
He jumped forward and brought his boot in a full arc slamming it straight into her stomach. With a painful cry she fell flat onto her belly.
"GET UP." 'Him' spoke. 'Him's' voice was loud and booming. It echoed throughout the nether space.
"GET UP."
Aisha felt another kick slam itself into her side. She cried out in pain and rolled on the ground.
"GET UP CHILD! GET UP NOW!"
'Him's' heavy foot slammed down her stomach causing her to crunch and fold up in pain. Aisha'd never felt like this before. This was far too intense for her. She couldn't breathe.
"HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO FIGHT IT WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN DEFEAT ME?"
Aisha's eyes clamped shut and she curled her body up. She didn't see the heavy foot crash itself upon her face. The next thing she knew was pain in her nose and cheeks and dizziness. Her body seemed to swirl about in an inky whirlpool of darkness. When she opened her eyes again she found herself back on her feet. 'Him' stood there calmly looking down at Aisha.
"Little Child..." Him's voice became softer. "If you don't defeat me, then you will have no future. You will be like a footnote in the pages of history. Combat will define you." Him pointed to behind Aisha's back. "It will consume you. It will destroy you. It is impatient. It will keep you safe in your nightmares only as long as you can dance before it. Once it bores of the charade it will become volatile. It will break you. It will kill you."
Aisha turned to find the shining, angry eyes directly behind her. With a scream she jumped up and backed away towards 'him'.
"It won't hurt you so long as it enjoys you. Defeat me and you will earn its pleasure for many more days than otherwise given by fate. Loose to me, let me crush you, let me break you... and you and all you know will perish."
Aisha stared at the glowing eyes with terror. They were safe? Safe from it? For how long?! Until when?!
"Learn to speak, think on your own, remember clothing and culture, poetry and song, become human... and you might stand a chance."
Aisha turned and looked up at 'him.' Slowly words began to form on her lips. These were new words. They were more "correct" than her old ones. They seemed more "right". Her mind, like a half open flower exposed to sunlight for the first time, opened wide and many things came to her. Language was the first and foremost of all these things.
"Who...Who are you? What's going to happen to us?! What, what is that-"
"Aisha..." him said softly. "Worry about bettering yourself. Worry about the safety of your family. Worry about those you will grow to love. Worry about standing when you will fall. It grows more impatient by the day. It sees a new future in you. As long as that future still shines in you, it will not destroy you. Learn Aisha. Learn and you will live. The only other alternative..."
Him trailed off and suddenly the monster in front of her began to scream and cry out in rage. Aisha trembled in fear as the glowing, hateful eyes burned at her. They jumped up and rose high into the air and with a loud, fearful cry dived down onto Aisha. With a scream she brought her hands up to shield herself and closed her eyes.
....With a scream she brought herself back into wakefulness. When she opened her eyes the entire room was pitch black. She had no idea where she was. She felt something jump under her head and across her legs and she screamed again. Fighting these things pressing against her she shot up and ran headlong into a wall. She fell back down slightly dazed. When a pair of hands grabbed her she began to shriek again. She covered her ears with her hands and rolled herself into a little ball. She stayed like this, screaming, until the lights finally came back on.
When she re-opened her eyes she saw Satomi hovering above her.
"AISHA! AISHA!! You ok?!"
With tears starting to well up in her eyes Aisha lay there looking up into the kind face of Satomi.
"S-Satomi!!" In a flash she was upon her and holding her tightly. She broke down and began to cry. It was the first time she'd ever done so in her life. She found water running down her cheeks and her eyes burned. Everyone else looked upon her with wonderment. What was happening to Aisha? What had caused her to act so strangely, screaming and wailing like that? Was she sick?
"Aisha..." Naka said softly. Satomi held Aisha tightly and rocked back and forth softly cradling her. Aisha looked up at her with a mix of fear and sadness in her eyes.
"I...I saw..." she sobbed out through the tears. "I s-saw a m-muh-monster a-and it chased me! It guh-got angry and almost hu-hurt me. I was s-s-so scared, Satomi! I was so s-scared!"
"Tcha, Aisha. Don't worry now. You going to be ok. Sleep is gone. Monster gone. Satomi will keep you safe. Naka and Krys will keep you safe. 'S all right Aisha. All right..."
Aisha fell back into her arms and brought forth new tears. It seemed so real. Too very real. As she cried in Satomi's arms Aisha decided once and for all to do what ever it took to push herself to the top. She knew that the dream had been real. That she had been in mortal danger. Her mind told her so. If she ever hoped to keep herself and the rest of her family alive she would have to be the one to rise when the others fell. Next time she saw 'him', she vowed, she wouldn't stop until she'd destroyed him. Conquering him would be their salvation.
From that day forward until they left their chambers the women stepped into the real world, she waited for that "him" to come back to her dreams. She waited for her chance. She had no idea what the vision really meant, but still she waited for him. Every night. He didn't come until later. Much later. And not in her dreams.
He came after the last set of doors were opened.
It was in the pitch black of night almost 2 weeks after the second set had opened. No one noticed the door was open until the morning. Naka had been the first one up. She'd rolled over and opened her eyes to find herself staring down a long tunnel. She was drowsy and didn't notice that there should have been a wall there. She rolled back around and tried to snooze.
With a snap her eyes came back open and she shot back over to make sure she saw what she did. Where the large wall should have been she saw instead a large gaping tunnel. It ran downwards for as far as she could see. Swallowing she turned back to her sleeping friends.
"Krys! Krysta!! Aisha!! Satomi!! Wake up!! Wake up now!!"
All three rolled over sleepily and groaned. Krys called up irritably. "Naka.. What's it?"
Nanaka ran to the three sitting down and kicked them to wakefulness. "Baka! Wake up! New tunnel!! Wall is GONE! 'S not there no more!!"
Krysta rolled over lazily and opened her eyes a crack glaring as best she could at Naka. Framed behind Naka was the very large opening.
"Naka! Can't it wait 'till- Whatta?!" She bolted upright. Naka wasn't lying. It was a huge.
"Satomi! Aisha!! New tunnel!! 'S open!"
In a flash the rest of them shot up. Aisha's mastery of the language had all since been perfected since that dream she had. New memories of how it should sound surfaced in her fragile mind. She quickly grasped the new concepts and proper language flowed forth. The rest were a little bit slower to pick up her mastery but slowly they corrected their mistakes. Their memories surfaced the more they heard her.
"Where does this lead to?"
"Maybe more of us..."
Nanaka strode forward a bit and peered down the tunnel. It seemed to curve up about 100 feet down. She turned to the others and smiled.
"Let's go!"
With a giggle she and the rest took off down the tunnel to what ever lay ahead. Aisha held back a bit. She had become wary since her dream. She was the only one amongst them who had any fear or inhibition. A "him" might be down there. Or even worse, that monster. She let the others run ahead and held back momentarily. After they passed the curve leading back up at the bottom Aisha stopped and listened. It wasn't until she heard their ooh-ing and aah-ing that she moved forward.
At the top of the small slope the tunnel gave way to a massive room. This one was much, much larger than any of the previous ones. The top was a massive dome that encompassed everything. Unlike the other room the dome did not let the image of the sky through. It was solid white with the scattered light brightening the whole room. The largest thing dominating the floor was a massive pool. Aisha had never dreamed that something like that could have existed. The pool was surrounded by a cool, hard, gray substance her mind identified as "stone". A waterfall dominated the far wall spilling countless gallons of water into the pool feeding it. All around the ground where there was no "stone"; there was a soft, green substance. It was thin and short, but there were billions of these little things blanketing almost everything.
"Grass..." Aisha said softly.
Sprouting from the grass were several leafy plants she identified as "trees". These trees were all very broad leafed. Some were short and squat with many large leaves while others were tall, with massive hard "trunks" and only few large spiny leaves at the very top. The word that best described them was "tropical". With vines everywhere, and the odd bright, blooming flower, the soft, thick grass and the massive waterfall and pool Aisha's brain plugged a single word to sum it all up.
"Jungle!"
Satomi turned. "Jungle!! This is Jungle!"
Naka smiled. "Jungle! Jungle! Jungle! Pretty!!"
"Big..." Aisha said looking all over. The entire place had an area of about half a mile square. The dome was very high, almost two hundred feet up. The water fall at the far end seemed to only stretch half as high. The Pool was massive. The designers installed it due to the heated request of Kaiser. The women would no doubt bathe, or at least play, in the water and clean themselves off. The jungle setting would give them plenty of climbing and running room. The vines would be used for swinging and playing around.
The planners figured that the waterfall would be a prime climbing target. They didn't want the women climbing it and falling to their deaths, so they made that cliffside sheer, offering no purchase for the would be mountain climbers. The lake as well had been toned down. It only got as deep as six feet. No drowning women in that pool. If there were ever any emergencies the pool would automatically drain a bit allowing the women to get their feet back on the ground and away to safety.
But Krysta didn't know or care about any of those little details. She had her eyes locked solely on the large pool of water before her. It was so inviting and so big. Laughing hysterically she found herself dashing forward ahead of the rest making straight for it. Upon reaching the shore she jumped with all her might and flopped straight into the water. Everyone else stood back wide eyed at her shenanigans but smiled as she resurfaced and stood.
She looked so different. Her hair was now straight and slick and plastered to her forehead and all down her body. All over her what little hair she had was plastered right onto the skin. The two small points on her breasts were at full attention, indicating that the water was very cold. She shivered a bit and ran her hands through her long hair and wringed some of the water out of it. Planting her hands on her hips she grinned over to her friends.
" 'S Cold!! I all wet!!" she giggled. A moment later three more girls were flying through the air and landing in the massive pool with giant splashes. Giggling laughing and yelling at the top of their lungs they played in the cool water for what seemed like hours. It was water! A huge body of water! They'd never seen anything like it before, not even in their dreams. It was so big, so great!
Satomi, however, was the first one to stop. She ceased splashing around and focused at the beach. A moment later Aisha swam up smiling.
"Satomi-chan? What's wro..." She stopped and began to stare as well. A second later Krys and Naka stopped and also turned.
They weren't alone. There were people on the beach.
Four of them. One with fiery red hair, another with a deeper shade, another with loose blonde hair and still one more with dark and straight, jet black hair. The two groups stood there silently and watched one another. Who were these newcomers? What were they doing here? How long have they been there?
Aisha stared suspiciously at them. They could be dangerous, she thought. There was only one way to find out.
Striding purposefully forward through the water she approached the four. Nanaka and Krys saw her go and decided to follow. The air had become very tense and the playful mood had left all of them. Something might happen to Aisha if she wasn't careful. They might start hitting Aisha and she could get hurt. They might be bad people. She may need their help. Satomi stayed back. While these people seemed harmless at the moment, she could tell that they could be very dangerous. The two redheads looked very strong. The blonde looked harmless enough, but the black haired one really struck Satomi as deadly. She had a strange look in her cerulean eyes. It made her shudder to watch. The black-haired one seemed cold. Something deep inside her told her that she should keep away from that one, and that was exactly what she planned on doing.
As Aisha, Naka, and Krys wadded to the newcomers, the largest red head, the one with the fiery hair, tensed up. Her friend, the other red head, put a hand on her shoulder. She leaned forward and whispered into her ear. The fiery one seemed to calm a bit, but still watched the trio approach on her guard. They might try to pull something.
The one with the straight, black hair walked out in front of her comrades and approached the incoming women. The blonde one seemed to hold back, not too sure what to do. The two red heads crossed their arms and waited. It seemed they would let the new party make the first move.
The one with the black hair stopped when she was ankle deep in the water. She watched Aisha intently. Images of the girl floated in and out of her mind. She could sense a lot of strong will in this person. She also caught whiff of something she'd never seen before. It seemed to cause this girl distress and heartache, yet seemed to build her character as well as strengthen her will. It was fear. The blue haired one was afraid of something. As the she came closer the black haired one crossed her arms and met her eyes.
Aisha did the same as she came close and stopped not one foot from her. They locked gazes, each trying to stare the other one down. Aisha's bright green eyes and this new girl's queer blue ones. Finally, Aisha seemed to crack a bit. She broke the gaze and asked one word instead.
"Friend?"
The new girl seemed taken back a moment. This one could speak. She gazed back at the smaller woman intently. Where had these people come from?
Aisha took her hand and placed it on the new girl's shoulder. The red head with the fire for hair seemed to jump and looked ready to pounce. Her friend held her back a bit, obviously waiting for her raven-haired friend to make her move. Aisha locked eyes with her again and asked once more.
"Are you a friend?"
The new woman stood still a moment. She regarded the new girl with interest. As more and more shadows of her mind passed through her own she began to realize that the girl was serious in her intentions for friendship. Finally smiling, the new woman raised her arm and placed it in Aisha's opposite shoulder.
"Friend. It's big enough here for all of us."
"Friend it is!" Aisha replied returning her smile. The red head seemed to visibly relax as she saw her friend place her hand on the stranger's shoulder. Her friend next to her seemed to do the same. Satomi smiled. She had a feeling that it would have been a very bad idea to be enemies with such women. Krysta and Nanaka smiled to each other and approached Aisha. The two red heads did the same and they began to introduce themselves to one another. Satomi looked past the group and over to the blonde standing a ways away from the group watching shyly. For a brief moment their eyes met, and Satomi smiled over to her. The small blonde blushed and smiled back a bit averting her eyes. Satomi could tell she was rather shy, just as she herself had been when she first met Aisha, and she giggled.
Moments later they were all playing in the lake water just as if they had been friends all their lives. It was in that manner that the all women on Terra II finally came to meet one another, in the same place, at the same time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The jungle turned out to be a magnificent new playground for them. Its sheer size gave them the room to run and jump, climb and explore, to let their bodies run free and enjoy the vastness of their wilderness. The two groups bonded very well and became very close. Aisha became truly happy for the first time in several weeks. The new people energized her. They filled her with a newfound spirit of happiness and joy. She found that each of the newcomers were very different people. The one with fiery red hair was called Aiko. Despite her aggressive attitude at the start she was in fact rather kind and docile. Granted she still had a bad habit of pulverizing things when ever she was in a bad mood, she was still very close to everyone of the women there.
Auska was much like her companion minus the urge to destroy random objects when ever she was angry. She was just as powerfully built and just as kind as her partner. Often Aisha would happen upon them when they were fighting. At least that was what she called it when she first saw it. When she looked closer she saw that they were playing. It was like they were mock fighting. "Sparring" came to mind. She figured that was just their way of venting steam and left it at that. Aiko and Asuka sparred every now and again to stretch out or, like Aisha had assumed, vent steam.
Leska, despite her pale skin, jet black hair and piercing eyes, was the most gentle out of all of them. She was always kind and willing to help the others. Often she shared food when someone was still hungry, or helped them when they fell from a tree and scraped themselves. She always seemed to know when something was wrong. She had the uncanny ability to sense it when something was amiss. Often whenever one of the others were in danger of hurting themselves she would be there getting them out of the situation. When Krys had climbed a tree and found herself stuck among the palms, Leska was the first person there. When Satomi had fallen down a slope and scraped herself badly, Leska was there first, treating her scratches and comforting her.
Aisha began to respect Leska immensely. She was the only one among them who really cared for the others around her more than herself. She never hurt anyone, never fought, never argued, was never rough with anyone, she was always honest, kind gentle. Her flat eyes and hard exterior hid the kind-hearted woman on the inside.
The last newcomer in Aisha's eyes was Katsumi. She was the shyest one out of all of them. She was always the one in back. She was the one who was always the last in. She rarely spoke, never fought, never argued and was always cheerful. Aisha liked her as well. She wasn't nearly as bold as any of the others, but she was always kind. She liked the way she never argued. She never said anything that would make any of the others mad. She was always generous with what she had and she always tried to do her best to please those around her. Aisha saw her as a smaller, more toned down version of Leska.
The eight of them got along well. Despite their large group they rarely fought. Aisha had said the wrong thing a few times and spent the following few minutes avoiding the deadly fists of Aiko. The rest would usually sit back and laugh at their small sparring match. Most of the time Aisha was able to avoid getting pummeled, but every once and a while Aiko got a good shot through and Aisha would find her self feeling it for a few days afterward.
They spent most of their days running about their playground, swimming in their lake or relaxing in the other rooms. Aisha stayed in high spirits for the rest of their time there. The newcomers were new and exciting and she enjoyed getting to know all of them more deeply. For the most part they all got along well in their remaining days. There was plenty of food, plenty of spare time and plenty of good feeling all around. In this time they all perfected their language. Aisha and Leska were the only ones who really remembered how things were supposed to sound. With the both of them using it, the other women quickly caught on.
But this period marked the end of their happy and carefree days. Ghenna really only wanted to have the girls meet and interact a bit before he began to process them. They were to be the greatest creatures to walk on Terra II. They were to be goddesses under him. In order for them to fill the role he gave them they would need to be trained. They would have to excel in their respective areas and top out better than any of the Gray Eyes in their league.
He was anxious to get them on with their training. He decided to only give the women two months more of rest before their training was to begin. At the time each of them were only one year old. Much to Kaiser's dismay he found he was to head their training. "Use the best to train the best" was the foundation in Ghenna's decision. The Arch-Bishop was more than annoyed at his leader's choice. The women still disgusted him. He hated the idea of interacting with such pathetic creatures. They were docile. They were lazy. Since they started bathing their smell had all but gone away, but they were still filthy in his eyes.
But it was still his duty to serve his master. Ghenna was his leader and father and he would do nothing to disappoint him. All of the Gray Eyes regarded Ghenna as their father. They looked up to him and would follow his orders unquestioningly. Personal feelings and agendas were always second. Kaiser was ordered and he would obey.
About one week before their vacation ended, Aisha met with Leska in private. There was something she wanted to talk about. Pulling her deep into their jungle and making sure no one else was around Aisha turned and addressed her new friend.
"Leska-chan, Can I ask you something?"
Leska narrowed her flat eyes and arched her eyebrows. "Of course Aisha. What is it?"
Aisha turned and looked out into the jungle making sure before she continued. "Leska..." She said taking a deep breath. "Leska... before I met you and Aiko, Asuka and Katsumi, I had a dream one night. It... it was a very frightening dream. I dreamt that I was running through our corridors being chased by a huge, monstrous creature. It was angry with me and wanted to cause me harm. It wanted to hurt me badly. I didn't know why, but it just did."
Leska stood by silently and listened intently to her friend. What she was describing to her were the images and shadows that most prominently floated into Leska's mind when ever she focused herself upon Aisha. She was finally learning what they meant.
"As I ran," Aisha continued. "I remembered finding myself in the Tunnels. When I looked back I saw that the creature was like two gigantic eyes. They focused in on me and seemed to be seething with hatred and spite. They scared me badly. I think it was the first time ever that I'd actually been terrified like that.
"I suddenly hit something and fell down coming to a complete stop. I looked up and saw that I ran into someone."
Aisha paused. Leska took a seat in the soft grass and waited, staring intently up at Aisha. She'd seen what Aisha had from the shadows in her mind. She waited to see what Aisha made of it.
"It wasn't one of us. I could tell right away. It was taller than any of us. It also looked stronger... much stronger... It was built differently was well. It seemed more blocky and solid than any of us. I remember... I remember calling it 'him'. 'Him' was what best came to mind."
Leska nodded, her eyes now narrow, pensive slits.
"I remember him kicking me next. 'Him' kicked me hard, right in my belly on the ground. 'Him' knocked the wind out of me. 'Him' kicked me again and again, I was on the ground and, and 'him'-"
"He." Leska said interrupting her.
Aisha stopped and looked up. "What?"
"He" Leska repeated. "The correct nominative clause is 'he'." [author's note: I didn't word it like that, my editor did. Don't ask me what it means...]
Aisha stared at her a moment as the correct memory surfaced. She was right.
"He... That's right! It goes by he..." Suddenly she came straight to attention and stared in shock at her friend on the ground.
"You know what I'm talking about then!"
Leska nodded slowly. "Yes, Aisha. I've seen him as well."
Aisha sat down by her side and took her shoulders into her hands. "You know what he is then! You know who he is!"
Leska cocked an eyebrow and averted her gaze a moment. "...Yeees and no, Aisha. I know that he is male. And that we are female. I know that there are a great many 'he's' outside where we live. I know that when we see one..."
She trailed off. Some where a technician who was in charge of monitoring and recording the actions of all the women choked on his coffee and donuts and fell over in his chair. After he recovered he dialed the hotline straight to Ghenna's inner office.
Aisha cocked her head a bit. "And?"
Leska shook hers and frowned. "I'm sorry Aisha, that's all I know. They're just as much a mystery to me as they are to you."
"How do you know about them?"
Leska smiled knowingly. "Dreams..." She said softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Ghenna received word that one of the women knew about the presence of men he went berserk. His eyes glittered like two jewels caught in moonlight. They shouldn't have known about anything at all outside the walls of their complex. Something or someone had to have leaked the information in to them. But when he found out who knew about it his attitude took a 180°. It had been his precious psychic. She had been the one. It was now painfully obvious that she had certain abilities. He decided to dash their remaining together time and proceed with their plans ahead of schedule. In one week the others would understand the true purpose of their lives. Ghenna couldn't wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After their conversation, Aisha felt better about the whole ordeal. She wasn't alone. Leska had also seen men in her dreams. Aisha slept better the remaining week, still on the watch for the rogue man, having much, much more peaceful nights. She was confident that should she ever see him again, she would be able to defeat him and put the demon in her mind to rest. Leska had made all the difference for her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were all gathered by the pond enjoying the meals that seemed to magically appear every morning in their original rooms, bathing by the pools side and swimming deep. Katsumi was seated comfortably by the waterside watching as Asuka grabbed Krysta causing both of them to tumble backwards with a huge splash. Aiko had been standing off cooling in the water when the miniature tsunami enveloped her. With a gurgled scream she jumped up and glared death upon the two rough-housers. Aisha and Satomi broke out giggling when they saw Aiko steaming along the pond side aiming to pummel the two miscreants. She could be such a hothead at times, they both thought. Nanaka and Leska sat smiling as well on the beach. Asuka was starting to become more and more playful. This was the third time in as many days that she had tackled someone in the water. With a cheerful 'Wheeee!' she took off away from Aiko leaving Krys behind. Asuka knew, after all, she didn't have to out run Aiko, all she had to do was out run Krysta, leaving her to the bear, so to speak.
Aisha stopped smiling when Krys, who had been busy beating away Aiko and not playing attention to where she was going, slammed straight into her. With a wild yell they both tumbled into the water. Aiko saw them go down and, smiling, leaped high into the air. She came down with a splash and began to 'mock' pummel who ever was beneath her. When she pulled the unfortunate up she found her hands to be around Aisha's neck rather than Krys'.
With a frightened yelp she took off heading the other way. Aisha began to breathe fire and chased after her with her fist high in the air. By now Leska and Nanaka were rolling on the floor laughing at their antics. Satomi and Katsumi were also giggling uncontrollably. Asuka was crying. Her sides hurt from all her laughter. She'd all but died on the beach watching all the chaos she had wreaked. She was fast becoming the goddess of mischief.
As the laughter slowly began to quiet down each of the girls in turn became totally silent. Leska and Nanaka, then Katsumi and Satomi, followed by Aisha letting Aiko out of her headlock of death and finally ending on Asuka quieting down after realizing she was laughing all alone. She looked up at her friends curiously. Their attention was turned to something else. Slowly Asuka turned to see what it was they were staring at. Her eyes went wide open with shock once she saw it.
It was huge. Taller than any of the rest of them. It stood tall and strong, seemingly dwarfing any of the women there. It breathed slowly and deliberately, its massive, barrel like chest slowly rising and falling. It seemed to be wearing something over its body, like an extra pair of skin. Its feet looked hard and glossy black. The extra skin was tight and shiny around there. As she looked up it came to much looser skin that seemed to fold away from the body. Asuka could see stripes running up this length of skin covering its' legs.
Its large, flat chest was, for the most part, bare. Its neck was thick and strong, leading to a stern and hard face. Its eyes were gray and hair was brown. Hair trailed down to the small of its back, much like all of theirs. From it's powerful hands to its gigantic biceps to its imposing frame, the women gazed silently at the one creature that was about to change the rest of their lives very dramatically. It was a man, and it was there, gazing upon them.
Kaiser had come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, ok. I'm going to figure that there are a few people out there who are wondering just who the names given to each of the marionettes are given to. Aisha is Lime (and a very different one at that.), Satomi is Cherry, Aiko is Bloodberry, Asuka is Tiger, Nanaka is Panta and Krysta is Luchs. Betcha they seem really out of character, huh? I found that in SMJ their personalities were a result of the programming in their maiden circuits. These women were just born. I decided that their lives will shape their personalities later on. Right now they are all innocent and pure, just like little babies. Life will rip them apart. But that's all in the future. I'll work on part 3 depending on the feedback I get for the first two parts. I'll see what you peoples think. Feel free to send me feedback at The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com. You know the rules. On one last note, I know this ending song is about cocaine. Just play along with the whole puppets/marionette similarity thing, ok?
^^ Tataa~.
End of passion play, crumbling away.
....I'm your source of self-destruction...
Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear.
...Leading on your deaths construction...
Taste me you will see
more is all you need
Dedicated to
how I'm killing you...
Come crawling faster...
Obey your Master!
Your life burns faster...
Obey your Master!
Master!
Master of Puppets, I'm pulling your strings!
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing,
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
Needlework the way, never you betray.
...life of death becoming clearer...
Pain monopoly, ritual misery.
...chop your breakfast on a mirror...
Taste me you will see
more is all you need!
Dedicated to
how I'm fucking you!
...Come crawling faster...
Obey your Master!
...Your life burns faster...
Obey your Master!
Master!
Master of Puppets, I'm pulling your strings
twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing...
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream.
Master!
Master!
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream.
Master!
Master!
Master, Master... Where's the dreams that I've been after?
Master, Master... You promised only lies!
Laughter, Laughter.. All I hear and see is laughter...
Laughter, Laughter... laughing at my cries!
Hell is worth all that, natural habitat!
Just a rhyme without a reason...
Never-ending maze, drift on numbered days!
Now your life is out of season...
I will occupy...
I will help you die!
I will run through you...
Now I rule you, too!
...Come crawling faster...
Obey your Master!
...Your life burns faster...
Obey your Master!
Master!
Master of Puppets pulling your strings...
twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing...
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
Just call my name, I'll hear you scream!
Master!
Master!
...Ha Ha Ha Ha...
~Master of Puppets
Metallica
S&M Version
