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Fragmented Lives (The Parody Pieces)
"Final Battle"
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Copyright Info and Disclaimer.
"Neon Genesis Evangelion" is Copyright (c) 2003 by Gainax. All OTHER material is Copyright (c) 2003 their owners. All materials used for PARODY purposes.
"Altered Lives (The Parody)" and "Fragmented Lives (The Parody Pieces)" are Copyright (c) 2003 by DBM. This work is an Amateur, Non-Commercial work by an Anime/Manga Fan. This work was created in the Spirit of the Copyright Exemptions regarding Parodies and Satire.
If you like my work, you may keep a copy for your own personal records, but you may NOT post it on any websites/newsgroups, NOR may you include it in any printed publication for sale/public distribution. If printing out a copy for yourself or a friend, you may reformat it (paragraph spacing, page-breaks, font and font size, borders, bold/italic, etc) to fit the paper you use, but please do not change any of the actual words or wording in the document.
Sole web-posting at FanFiction.Net - Author's E-Mail address on File.
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Censorship Info and Disclaimer.
NOT Recommended for Children.
Intended for MATURE Audiences.
There are NO 'sex scenes', but, just like the original NGE series, the story will explore the results and side effects of such activities. Along the way, there'll be swearing, violence, drugs, Adult situations, and frank discussions of sex education/family planning information, as well as thoughts and opinions on the morals and ethics of sexual assault, dating, courtship, marriage, alternate sexualities, pregnancy, childbirth, parenthood, Family Values, etc.
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Fandom Alerts and Disclaimer.
AU Alert (Alternate Universe).
OOC Alert (Out Of Character).
ACC Alert (Author Created Character).
SI Alert (Self Insert - Author appears in the story as a character).
SPOILER Alert (May 'spoil' surprises in the Manga and Anime TV/Movies).
' ' denotes thoughts.
" " denotes speech.
* * denotes emphasis, or electronic communication.
denotes other method of communication.
--- denotes letters deleted for censorship reasons.
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Author's Ramblings - Some scenes for the Final Battle in the City.
Uncompleted, but hopefully enough to give you an idea of what happens.
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Fragment - Face-Off.
On the surface, Unit Won was surrounded by 9 white AVE's. The newcomers were all of the same design as each other, differing from Unit Won in that they had retractable wings and the blunt shaped protuberances they had for heads lacked any discernable eyes, but had a large mouths filled with jagged teeth.
Shakey sat in Unit Won, fear and terror racing through him. He'd arrived too late to save Unit Too, and although he had missed seeing Aesir's AVE being torn limb from limb after, Shakey had still seen the pieces lying on the battlefield.
The white AVE's moved slowly, tightening the circle they held around Unit Won. As they moved, they kept their blunt heads turned towards Unit Won, always keeping Shakey's AVE in the center of their faceless attention.
A tensing went through the enemy AVE's, and their faces twisted away from watching Shakey's AVE to look at a spot on the ground some distance away.
A great white cloud burst from the ground where the Enemy AVE's were looking. The surface features of the cloud twisted and turned, resolving into a giant face bearing the shaggy locks of a Rave Clone. More of the cloud boiled up out of the ground, revealing a fully formed humanoid shape that appeared to be that of a nude female, although a female bereft of either nipples or cloven crotch.
The expression on the newly revealed RAVE's face tightened into a narrow-eyed mask of disapproval. An E.T. Field suddenly exploded out from around her, dust and debris fleeing along the wavefront of the force field.
The enemy AVE's created their own fields, standing behind them as the leading edge of the other field approached. The fields met, and the Enemy AVE's staggered as their own E.T. Fields evaporated like snowflakes in a blast furnace, leaving the enemy AVE's to be thrown around like dolls as they were left defenceless before the full force of the RAVE's E.T. Field.
Shakey's AVE was momentarily blinded by the dust, but held it's ground, the E.T. Field it had thrown up in protection of itself somehow neutralising the wavefront of the other and sparing it the consequences of futher damage.
The RAVE frowned as it extended both hands, gesturing open-handedly in the general direction of the Enemy AVE's. The enemy AVE's suddenly spasmed, flailing around as if in the throes of an epileptic seizure, their surfaces bubbling and writhing with countless nodules. Their contortions climaxed as the armour covering the Control Units was blown off, to be followed by the ejection of the tubular Control Units themselves.
The RAVE suddenly clenched her hands into fists, and the Control Units of the Enemy AVEs imploded into twisted scrap metal in mid-air, golden vapour clouds appearing around them as the force behind their destruction aerosoled the liquids squirting from within.
One the ground near the fallen white giants, Rave Clones suddenly appeared in the wreckage, hastening towards the downed AVE's. At each of the now silent Enemy AVE's, a Rave Clone used her own abilities to enter the darkened hole that the destroyed Control Units had so recently filled.
As the Rave Clones at the entry to each AVE vanished from sight, the skins of the infiltrated AVE's once more bubbled and writhed, sealing off the hole where the Control Units had been as a body wide metamorphosis took place.
Up from the wreckage, 9 giant white shapes slowly rose, their appearances changing with the speed of liquid wax into the visages of the Rave Clones that had just entered them. Armour groaned and bindings flexed as they tried to contain the changed forms within their protective embrace.
10 White giants now stood on the field of battle. With out a word, 9 of them retrieved the morphable Lance-like weapons that still pinned the remnants of Unit Too to the ground. Wings flexed out from beneath armoured Shoulder Plates, and the 9 Angels of Death took to the Skies, taking the High ground in their continuing battle with the invading forces.
Back on the silent battlefield, Shakey's AVE knelt beside the remains of Unit Too. The RAVE knelt on the other side of Aesir's butchered AVE, giant white hands probing amid gore and ruptured flesh to retrieve the dented but relatively intact Contol Unit of the fallen Red Warrior.
The battle apparently over, the Control Unit of Unit Won ejected and a frightened Shakey stumbled from it. Pale hands grabbed Shakey's arms as several Rave Clones checked to make sure the shell-shocked boy was unharmed.
As Shakey was escorted from the vicinity of Unit Won to a safer location, a giant white hand removed the empty Control Unit that jutted from the back of Unit Won. A waiting Rave Clone jumped into the gaping hole, prompting a similar transformation in the Purple AVE to the ones that had occurred in the others.
AVE Unit Won stood up, the armour straining and groaning as the body within changed shape. The helmet was rapidly discarded to reveal features that flowed into the familiar face of a Rave Clone. The purple-clad giant smiled as it flexed an armoured fist.
"Okasan… Tadaima… (Honoured Mother… I'm Back/Home…)" the whisper rumbled over the battle field.
The former Unit Won standing guard, the RAVE sat cross-legged on the ground in a 'Lotus' Meditation pose.
The RAVE cradled the dented Control Unit of Unit Too in her lap, hunching forward slightly in a more protective pose, the skin of her hands flowing over the Control Unit they held. Alabaster eyelids slid down over crimson eyes, the face drifting into a peacefully neutral expression as the mind inside the white giant reached out…
"Aesir?" The fear-filled way in which the one word came from Shakey's lips, asked the myriad questions that ran through his tortured mind.
"We do not know," the quiet reply did nothing to reassure Shakey, "We are checking for her now…"
The inside of Aesir's entry plug was devoid of any person, let alone a corpse, the only indication of the missing pilot ever having been there was the shredded Snug Suit, and the subtly altered TLC.
"She has been absorbed," A Rave Clone relayed the information to a worried Shakey, "She is now in the same state you were, when Unit Won absorbed you…"
"Then… She's going to be all right? Isn't she?"
The Rave Clone looked at Shakey, before repeating, "We do not know…"
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Fragment - Breakthrough.
The events following the assimilation of the Enemy AVE's were an indeterminate mish-mash of running battles that eventually faded into mopping up operations.
Throughout the smoking ruin of the once-proud city, the cries of the wounded and doomed rose in painful supplication, crying out for the help that never came for far too many.
Clone#96 hung to the conduits and pipes that ran along the ceiling of the gargantuan tunnel she was in. Far below her, a group of enemy soldiers warily prowled their way through the underground maze the Clone had lured them into.
The enemy had orders to hunt down and kill any of the Rave Clones they encountered. The fact that the Rave Clones took lethal exception to such actions, had resulted in understandable caution by the enemy. Especially since the score was Enemy NIL, Clones the-scoreboard-can't-count-that-high.
So far, Clone#96 had taken no action against these particular enemy troops, preferring to wait until they had all positioned themselves in her trap.
The tunnel suddenly widened out into one of the large junctions common in the service tunnels that fed into the subterranean NERVIS base. The soldiers bunched up just inside the end of their own tunnel, the lights of their torches probing the unknown dangers in the darkness ahead.
With no sound at all, Clone#92 released her grip and plummeted towards the ground.
"What The…?" was the first comment heard as #92 landed in the midst of her enemies. "Look OUT!" rapidly followed as #92 head-butted an enemy while ripping out the pins on the grenades the man had on his SWAT vest. "Kill her!" was the most polite comment #92 heard as she whirled amongst the enemy, killing several of them with powerful blows before diving to the floor, her E.T. Field cocooning her from the sudden series of explosions that shredded those around her.
#96 rose while the shrapnel was still bouncing, her acute senses informing her that not all of her foes were dead.
A few shots from a dead man's gun quickly changed that…
#96 ratted the corpses, taking guns, ammo and what grenades remained. Fully equipped with the tools of death, she took time to take stock of things.
#96 to Ops… Have neutralised enemy targets in zone Delta-7. Am in sub-level Delta-7-3, at North Service Junction. Orders?
Roger #96… the Group Mind returned, Confirm enemy withdrawing your zone via surface. Request you follow and terminate retreaters if capable…
#96 to Ops… Will follow and mop-up… Personal E.T. Field control still minimal, but more than sufficient for personal shielding… #96 out
Ops to #96, confirm and out…
#96 took her bearings then took off at a trot. Seconds later, she was on the surface and moving stealthily through the wreckage of a residential suburb.
'We know this place,' #96 realised as referenced her position on a map in the Group Mind, 'Natsumi and her Aunt live near here…'
The sight of several civilian corpses made the Clone pause as a faint uneasiness went through her. Crouching down behind some wreckage for cover, she sent a request to the Group Mind, Query, location and status of Natsumi Iwakawa, Hatsuko Iwakawa? Local Shelter?
Seconds later, the Group Mind returned Location and status of both targets unknown. Local Shelter reports targets not, repeat not, within…
#96 to Ops. Confirm location enemy troops in zone Delta-7?
Ops to #96. Enemy troops in Delta-7 have crossed over to zone Delta-6 and have been eliminated in Zone Delta-6
#96 to Ops. Request permission to recon Delta-7 for possible survivors
Ops to #96. Request allowable within 5-minute time frame. After that, proceed to zone Delta-5 via Delta-6 for mop-up of retreaters
#96 to Ops. Confirm 5-minutes then Delta-5 via Delta-6. #96 out
Ops to #96. Time starts now. Out
#96 moved at speed among the ruins of the suburb, making as straight a line as she could towards Natsumi's apartment block.
Or rather, the heap of rubble that lay where the Apartment block once stood.
A quick glance told the Clone all she needed to know about what had happened.
As part of their campaign, the Enemy Troops had hampered the efforts of the City defenders by blocking vital roadways with rubble. The facts that these 'road blocks' could be circumvented by using the extensive tunnel networks below the city, and that NERVIS Staff might use the same tunnels for escape and guerrilla counter-attack purposes was NOT unknown to the Enemy Troops…
Both problems had been solved by the simple method of fire-bombing non-essential service tunnel networks and then sealing up their entrances. The contained fires would not affect the vital infrastructure of the NERVIS Base, but would 'smoke out' or otherwise asphyxiate any refugees from the main slaughter.
Natsumi's apartment block was near an access hatch of one such service tunnel. The enemy troops had evidently used her apartment building to block the hatch. The debris spread from the deceased building spread across the nearby road, the few wisps of smoke that seeped out from the rubble the only indication of the conflagration below.
'Shaped charges on the building supports on that side,' mused the Clone, 'When the supports went, the building collapsed in a way intended to spread the debris in a certain way…'
The wind changed, and the fumes that rose from the rubble wafted towards the Clone. Wrinkling her nose at the acrid chemicals in the smoke, the Clone started to move off when something else in the smoke made her stop dead.
…The scent of blood…
Seconds later and the Clone was digging through the rubble in efficient haste, having tracked the odour to the part of the rubble that lay at the end of the building where Natsumi's apartment had been.
The Clone's efforts soon uncovered the barely recognisable furnishings of an apartment other Clones had visited. A desk lamp crushed flat and twisted… Loose pages in the remains of a bookcase that once held books… Shreds of blue fur from an old plush toy…
…And two shattered bodies, the larger one wrapped around a smaller one in a school uniform, sheltering it from the chaos that had engulfed them…
Hatsuko… the Clone sent unconsciously, recognising the torn and bloodied clothes on the larger body She tried to protect Natsumi…
Dead? queried the Group Mind.
A glance informed the Group Mind that Hatsuko Iwakawa was beyond any possibility of help, her body broken and cut so much that parts of her inner organs were visibly shredded. Clone#96 knelt in the rubble and prised the bodies apart, noting that rigor mortis had aready stiffened Hatsuko's limbs.
Natsumi was another matter. Although covered in blood, Natsumi appeared mostly intact, even if parts of her body no longer held their proper shape. A faint pulse, intermittent and dying was all the evidence of life the Clone could find.
She needs help or she will die #96 sent.
… The Group Mind was silent, as it considered options.
Her injuries will kill her if she is moved the Group Mind concluded, The specialist Medical aid she needs cannot arrive soon enough to help her…
Clone #96 sat in the rubble, unaccustomed feelings rising within her.
…so… #96 stated with sour distaste, …we cannot save her…
…no… the Group Mind quietly confirmed, …we cannot…
#96's emotions twisted inside her, rage, frustration, concern, fear…
Is this… How Shakey felt? #96 wondered, When he could not save those of us he wanted to help?
The memory of how Shakey had reached out to comfort a dying Clone surfaced in #96's mind. Without a word, #96 gently reached out and put her arms around Natsumi, drawing the girl to her chest in helpless imitation of how Shakey had tried to give what little comfort he could to another.
Memories of Natsumi played in the Clone's mind.
The first sight of a frightened young girl… Natsumi crying… Natsumi smiling… Natsumi sharing a Malted Milk with 'Rave'… Natsumi inviting 'Rave' to visit her home… Talking with Natsumi… Discovering Natsumi's hidden fears… Comforting Natsumi, and the strange sense of protectiveness and caring that appeared… Natsumi looking happy and healthy… Natsumi talking with 'Rave' as if 'Rave' were a normal girl… Natsumi hurt and broken…
Some part of #96's mind vaguely realised that her senses seemed to be exceeding the confines of her body, her own sense of body space swelling outward from her, reaching out to completely enfold Natsumi in a caring, protective embrace.
I cannot save her… #96 sent unconsciously, in the Clones unique form of 'thinking aloud', Even though I am trained in First Aid… I cannot save her… All I can do… is watch her die…
The Clone remembered another time when 'Rave' had been powerless to help someone she cared about… The time when Shakey's AVE had been swallowed up by a field of warped space generated by one of the Alien War Machines.
…we could do nothing… #96 thought bitterly, …except follow orders…
…nothing…
…but bide our time and wait for a chance to kill the one responsible…
…kill… …I can kill… But I cannot… save…
#96's acute senses interrupted her internal monologue to inform her that Natsumi's heart had finally stopped beating…
Hot tears ran down #96's face as she realised Natsumi was finally dead. That the child who had become a welcome part of Rave's existence was no longer in it…
…no… #96 whispered, an unreasoning refusal to accept reality taking over as her emotions boiled over with the pain of an intense emotional overload…
…No… …NO! **NOOOO**…
In the ruins of an apartment building, the Clone known as #96 threw her head back and screamed as she went berserk…
#96? the Group Mind sent, Confirm situation?
But #96 was no longer in a state capable of communicating with her sister Clones by any normal, or abnormal method. Mainly because #96 no longer existed as a reasoning intellect…
Like any normal person, the grief that came with losing a person close to them had made #96 want to withdraw from the source of her pain, and to shut out the world that particular pain existed in…
An E.T. Field flared into existence, completely enveloping #96 and the body she held, shutting both of them off from the world in a way few others could.
#96?! sent a concerned Group Mind, Report in! State your Situation?
Within the bubble of energy #96 had created, a stranger situation than the Group Mind could have imagined was taking place…
The relationship between Natsumi and the Clones was one of the few true friendships 'Rave' had. That it was one of a pitiful few such social bonds the Clones had EVER had, only added to its importance in the mind of the Clones.
The psychological term 'status symbol', refers to the belief that the possession of a certain thing is a measure of the worth of the owner of the thing. In Modern Society, this usually meant material things like money, a house, a fast car, or wearing the latest clothing fashions.
To the Clones, raised in a Spartan environment where material things (and even people) were mere tools to be used and disposed of when the need arose, 'status symbols' had taken a more cerebral turn. The oft unspoken praise that adequate performance in their studies and duties earned the Clones, served the multiple purposes of 'Status Symbol', and 'Affection/Attention Reward Behaviour' for them.
With their recently found friendships, the Clones had started to question why they had never had such things in their lives before. Mazurka had fielded the Clones' questions as best she could, and the Clones had spent long hours thinking over the answers they had received, often spawning many more questions to ask…
However, in all their musings, the emotionally inexperienced Clones had NOT thought of one VERY important question…
Whether or not the Clones, like so many others in the world around them, might 'overcompensate' with their new-found social interactions, or even unconsciously try and 'substitute' what little emotional life they had, for ALL they needed…
Mazurka had noted that the Clones were 'growing girls', in terms considerably more polite and respectful than what some soon-to-be-incapacitated-young-men had used within earshot of the 'Girls' themselves…
While Mazurka had done her best to educate her 'Girls' about the changes in their bodies and how puberty would impact on their world, she had accidentally overlooked one aspect of puberty that inevitably affected ALL Young Ladies…
The development of the caring, nurturing feminine mentality trait known as the 'Maternal Instinct'…
From within the lowest depths of #96's mind came overwhelming waves of unknown emotions, raw primal forces that mere words could not adequately describe. They writhed and wailed, snarling dire red-eyed warning at the world that had hurt one of the small weak things the Clones had claimed as their own…
A small weak thing that the Berserk Clone now hugged to her own chest, emotions raging out of all previously known proportions…
Death while being a major event in anyone's life, is NOT always a 'once in a lifetime event'… There are well-documented stories of seriously injured people whose breathing and heart beat have stopped, and yet who were subsequently revived…
The body of Natsumi Iwakawa had stopped breathing some time ago, and her heart had only just stopped its feeble struggle. The injuries her body had sustained had left little choice in either matter. The terror and pain she had endured in her final moments of consciousness, was something best known by her alone, although many other people in the City could give a good guess, based on their own personal experiences…
…And now, one other as well…
Clone #96's mind suddenly became a chaotic mishmash of memories…
…a dark-skinned woman dressed in the clothes of a cleaning woman, a foot-long kitchen knife in one hand, and a claw hammer in the other, a worried look of narrow-eyed belligerence on her face…
…the same woman huddling with her in a clothes closet…
…an overpowering sense of fear, as she strained to hear any sound…
…thunder tearing up the walls around them…
…vertigo as she tumbled helplessly…
…terrible pain striking all over her…
…a sensing of wrongness in her body…
…something sticky against her skin…
…weight pressing her down, smothering her…
…a small voice that sobbed out a name…
…a rising panic at not getting any reply…
…a coppery taste in her mouth…
…unable to breathe, choking on dust…
…no…
…a sense of being lost, frightened, alone…
…No…
…fading senses…
The bellow that tore from the Clone's soul had nothing to do with coherent speech, but said everything of value…
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Fragment - Hoping For A Result…
Within the formless void that existed somewhere from the physical vicinity of Unit Two's Contol Unit, the pale form of a blue-haired Rave Clone moved in silence. In the distances around her, strange lights flashed on and off, briefly illuminating stange shapes and snippets of another's memory.
We must go deeper the Group Mind determined, Aesir's mind has retreated from the surface realities of her psyche…
With searching that may or may not have lasted days longer in mind-space than the tense minutes it took in real time, the Group Mind finally located the focal core of the psychological entity that was Aesir Longlegs Skrewyou…
…A little girl with shoulder length red hair sat on grey cobbled stones, her body curled forward into a ball…
The child wore a yellow sundress that changed from the proper fit around her shoulders, to a tangled mass of cloth around the child's feet. The light that encircled her, quickly faded away into the dark nothingness of the void all around her. The only sound other than the child's sobs, was a noise that sounded like the slow drip of water into a vast underground lake.
"Aesir," the Psychic Simulacra of the Rave Clone stated the question as fact.
"…Wh-who's there?" the distraught child cried, apparently in fear.
Rave walked into the circle of light, and knelt beside Aesir, "I am Rave…"
"NO!" the child screamed in terror, "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"
This may take more time than anticipated… the Group Mind realised.
- - - - - - - - - -
Shakey paced nervously in a roomy Army tent set up near the meditating RAVE, anxiously awaiting any word from the Clones about Aesir.
When the Clones' first attempt to locate Aesir had failed due to the state of Aesir's mind, the Clones had wanted to transport Shakey to the Heavily defended Clone Zone while they continued their efforts. Local events however had scuttled that plan, and the Clones had decided that it would be safer for Shakey if he remained where he was, under the watchful protection of TWO AVE's, as well as the several Rave Clones that stood ready to assist the AVE's with any 'fine handling' requirements that AVE hands couldn't handle.
Erected within half an hour of the Clones' first probe of Unit Too's Control Unit, the spacious army tent was only one of several that the Clones had set up. This particular one held all the 'creature comforts' necessary for a long stay in the field, a precaution the Clones had taken as they knew that it had taken a month to get Shakey back when HE had been absorbed… Accordingly, the tent had 2 camp beds, a camp fridge with drinks and snacks, folding table with four chairs, an assortment of books and magazines, and an entertainment centre with a selection of various videos, as well as a game console and several games.
Although it had been several hours since Shakey had been given access to the mental diversions the tent contained, he not touched any of them so far.
"Why's it taking so LONG?!" the boy fretted.
The canvas flaps that served the tent as doors parted, allowing a Rave Clone with a covered meal tray to enter the tent.
"What news?" Shakey's hands gripped and squeezed each other nervously.
"We believe we have made significant progress with her…"
"Thank God!"
"…but we are not yet capable of retrieving her from the Control Unit…"
Shakey sank down onto a bunk, cradling his head in his hands as he wept…
- - - - - - - - - -
"It's not FAIR!" Aesir fumed, "Why do we have to suffer like this?"
Back in the illuminated circle within Aesir's mind-space, a pre-pubescent Aesir stalked back and forth within the confines of the circle of light, dressed in a scaled down AVE Pilot Snug-Suit.
"Who said it was?" a Rave Clone dressed in a Japanese Pre-schooler's outfit replied, "Who said you had to?"
"When I pilot AVE… I feel complete…" Aesir said, a worried look on her face, "But now… I… all I can feel is a hole inside me…"
"That is because you know your AVE was destroyed…"
"NO!" Aesir screamed, clapping hands over her ears, "I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!"
- - - - - - - - - -
"You should eat something and then get some rest…" the Rave Clone in Shakey's tent advised, as she replaced the cover on a meal tray. On the table, a second meal tray just delivered by the Clone held fresh food, unlike the untouched and now stale food in the earlier delivered tray the Clone was holding.
"I don't feel like eating… And what if I'm asleep when you get her back?" Shakey's whine came from a face showing the effects of stress and the early signs of sleep deprivation.
"We are not yet at that stage," the Clone informed Shakey, "And we do not expect to be for several more hours at the earliest. You should eat and rest…"
The Clone picked up the meal tray with the untouched food delivered earlier, then left Shakey alone in the tent with the fresh food.
Shakey sat on the edge of the bed, then stood and resumed pacing up and down the confines of the tent, ignoring both the food, and any other use of the bed.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Oh God!!" an adolescent Aesir in a Japanese school uniform lay curled up on the floor, wailing in a little girl's voice, "Mummy! Don't leave me!!"
"Your mother left you a long time ago…" Rave observed, "All you had since then were her memories…"
"…memories…?"
"Correct," Rave quietly confirmed, "The mind of your mother was imprinted onto the brain of Unit Too… It's why you could pilot her… It's why you felt so welcome inside of her…"
"…mummy was in there with me…?"
"Her memories were…" the Clone clarified, "The memories of her love for you… That is why SHE absorbed you… A final act of love in an attempt to save your life and stop the pain…"
"MOTHER!!!" Aesir screamed…
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Fragment - Born Again…
"…mother…?" the single word was little more than a weak whisper, but it had an unexpected effect…
The eyes of Clone#96 snapped open, her head turning towards the source of the sound…
…the broken body she cradled in her arms, the corpse of Natsumi Iwakawa…
Clone#96 blinked as the dead girl in her arms moved, taking a ragged breath…
"…moth- Oh!" the voice slurred in surprise, "…you're not Auntie…"
Clone #96 looked down at the living body in her arms…
The crush injuries and lumpy deformities where skin had stretched over bones broken and pushed out of alignment, now were smooth and normal-looking, save for mottled bruising of the skin.
"…dih-do not move…" the Clone growled hoarsely, her voice uneven with the aftermath of an emotional overload, "…you have been… injured…"
Around the pair, the golden shimmer of an E.T. Field faded away, revealing surrounding devastation, a pair of concerned Clones, and…
"NO!" Natsumi screamed on seeing the corpse of her 'Aunt', "Mother!"
She is alive? one of the newcomer Clones sent.
And not as damaged as she was? the other Clone observed, as Natsumi struggled out of Clone#96's arms.
… sent Clone#96, trying to remember what happened.
We… are not Human… understanding set in on the Group Mind, We are… part AVE… And AVE's… The Group Mind trailed off, remembering…
…Shakey's first piloting of an AVE. His damaged Unit Won going berserk in battle after being critically injured… And the spontaneous regeneration the AVE had used to repair itself and win the fight, without any conscious assistance from Shakey…
…A powerless Unit Won, seriously damaged in battle with another invader… And the sudden reactivation of Unit Won as it tore its opponent apart, absorbing and assimilating Alien tissue into its own body to repair the injuries…
…Doctor Akatlover's failed attempt to retrieve Shakey when he had been totally absorbed by his AVE… The TLC that supposedly contained Shakey's essence spilling from the disgorged Control Unit onto the walkway… A weeping Mazurka holding the missing boy's empty Snug Suit, and of her sudden change in emotion when Shakey had mysteriously appeared in a splash of TLC on the walkway some distance away from her, directly beneath the glowing 'core' of Unit Won…
Doctor Akatlover did not rebuild Shakey! The AVE rebuilt him! It regenerated him as it could itself!
Are we more AVE, than we are Human? Clone#96 sent a more coherent message than she was currently verbally capable of.
WE ARE NOW came the decided answer.
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Fragment - Hard Choices
The sound of a covered tray hitting the ground rang through the tent.
"Shakey!" the Clone knelt beside the body lying on the floor of the tent, her experienced fingers swiftly finding the boy's pulse. Other senses, some unavailable to normal humans, directed their full attention on the boy.
Emergency! the mental klaxon blared through the Group Mind, Shakey has collapsed! Possible diagnosis of Nervous Collapse!
Within seconds, several other Clones were in the tent, helping with the unconscious boy.
On the floor of the tent, a meal lay discarded for more important things…
- - - - - - - - - -
A whimpering filled the air in the circle of light. Rave sat on the floor dressed in her white Snug Suit, cradling an Aesir dressed in a red Snug Suit.
"It will be all right…" Rave reassured, her hand softly stroking Aesir's hair, "You have something to come back to… Something that will fill the void you feel inside your soul…"
"What?" Aesir sniffled.
"All children must leave the nest of their parent's home," Rave crooned, "The loss of the parent is compensated for by the gain of another loved one… One who enables the child to become a parent themselves, completing the cycle of life…"
"…Cagey…?" Aesir murmured the name of her first True Love, hope on her face…
"Is he the only one to touch your heart?"
Aesir blushed, then quietly mumbled, "…no…"
"There is another who cares for you…" Rave assured, "He waits for you even now… And regardless of whether or not, you and he become parents with each other… If there is another who can love you… Then there can be many more… Do not close your heart to any of them… They are also worthy of love… As are you…"
- - - - - - - - - -
In Shakey's tent, an adolescent boy lay on a camp bed, the intravenous drip in his arm feeding a drugged body oblivious to outside events…
"S--T!" Mazurka swore as she looked at the unconscious Shakey, "How long did he go without sleep?"
"We estimate at least twenty-six hours," a Rave Clone, cunningly disguised in a Nurse's outfit advised, "…Part of that was before the battles, and fell within the normal extremes of his usual sleeping cycle…"
"…twenty-six hours…" Mazurka muttered under her breath, "…and most of it running on stress… No wonder he collapsed…"
"He wanted to be awake in case we retrieved Aesir…" the Clone explained.
"How's THAT going?"
The Clones paused before answering, tapping onto the database that the Group Mind had on the subject, "We are much closer than we were. Aesir's psyche has been defragmented… All that is left is the restoration of her body itself, and the assimilation of her psyche with it…"
"Percentage chance of success?" Mazurka demanded, "In whole numbers only?"
The clone was silent.
"That good, huh?" Mazurka quipped, before sighing deeply.
"We… can increase the chances of her recovery, if…"
"If?"
"We could do better if we had an adequate physical template…"
Mazurka's brow furrowed, "Physical Template? I don't understand what you mean? If you need access to her medical records, you'll get them, A.S.A.P.!"
The Clone blushed a little, "Even with that, it would be like a person trying to imagine a picture rendered by a 3D computer program, based solely on seeing the raw code for the 3D program… A book may tell you much about a subject, but raw data cannot compare to personal experience… And we… are not the same as she is… fundamentally…"
Enlightenment dawned on Mazurka, "Oh! You mean the… 'Heritage' thing…?"
"…not… exactly… Although that is part of the problem…"
"What then?"
"Our 'heritage' makes us significantly different to her, in ways that even we do not fully understand… Regardless, there is… another matter… that prevents us from using our own bodies as a template… We are not as… feminine… as she is…"
"Feminine? What are y-…?" Mazurka was tired, it had been a long day and she was suffering the effects of alcohol deprivation, "OH! You mean THAT 'feminine'?"
"Yes," the Clone confirmed the euphemism, before quietly stating, "Although she may not immediately notice the physical difference, she most certainly will… We anticipate that the ongoing psychological effects will be… adverse…"
"How adverse?"
"Akin to castrating a Male of a similar age…"
Mazurka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "But at least she'll be alive?"
"Perhaps not for long," the Clone insinuated, "She has already lost her AVE, one of her most powerful sources of self-esteem… The loss of the… other… may be too much for her… After her last attempt to run away, there was fear for her mental state, fear that she might suicide… And with the events of the past few days…"
"Right!" Mazurka gruffly interrupted, "You think it will all be too much for her, and that she might actually attempt to kill herself?"
The Clone nodded, then added, "Mazurka… You are one of the few people we know well enough to ask this of… May we use your body as a template?"
Mazurka blinked, then blushed deeply, "ME? But… I'm a Grown Woman? I'm not a… a teenager…!"
The Clone smiled slightly, "You do not need to be… Engineers use scale models to help them construct skyscrapers… Some are artist's impression of what the building will look like, while others are used in wind tunnel tests, or to test the effects of disasters on the building structure…"
"…what's involved…" Mazurka asked in a small, embarrassed voice, "…do I have to lie back and put my feet in the stirrups…?"
"No… A low-level synchronisation and thorough Medical Scan will suffice… It will enable us to understand the internal structures of a normal female body, from a practical, personal viewpoint… Think of it as a Medical student finally getting their hands on a real body, instead of making do with books and plastic models…"
"…when do you want me to do it…"
"As soon as possible… Physical reconstruction cannot commence without it…"
======================================================================
Fragment - Under the Microscope…
Mazurka lay on her back in a Hi-Tech Medical Scanning Module, dressed in the traditional 'ill-fitting' hospital gown one always wore in such a situation.
The presence of Mayi Buttin at the controls was a welcome relief, even though the young technician was not her usual self. The events of the past few days had taken their toll on Mayi, and the happy innocent who had once performed her tasks with eager professionalism, had been replaced by a sad adult, who now went through the motions of her job with a tired precision.
Several Rave Clones also attended, helping out with the various duties involved in the current scanning procedure.
"…test complete…" Mayi sighed, flicking off a recording device.
"Beginning Phase II," a Rave Clone announced to all present.
On either side of the Medical Scanning Module containing Mazurka, a Rave Clone took up position. The Clones stretched their hands out, each resting one hand on Mazurka's head, while the other hands assumed alternate positions high on Mazurka's torso, just below her breasts, and low on Mazurka's abdomen, just above the bulge of her Pubic Bone.
Mazurka's face had gone more than slightly pink. Medical examinations and the sort of intrusive 'intimate' contact they often required, were NOT her favourite past time. Today, she had stripped, showered, been pumped full of various diagnostic chemicals, had various humiliating samples taken from her body, dressed in a flimsy cotton gown, been given a thorough 'internal examination' by Mayi, and THEN been 'laid out on the slab' under a scanner for a couple of hours…
"Try to relax," the Clones murmured reassuringly, "This will not hurt…"
Mazurka lay back and tried to ignore how cold the air in the room was making her feel, and the warmth of the Clones' hands on her body…
The two Clones beside Mazurka closed their eyes and began to slowly move their hands over Mazurka's abdomen, their hands meeting at Mazurka's navel, then passing each other as they moved their hand to the position that the hand of the other Clone was originally in, before moving their hands in reverse fashion.
After repeating their initial scanning a couple of times, the Clones lifted their hands from Mazurka's torso and intermeshed their fingers, laying their hands down on Mazurka's lower abdomen, at the top of her Pubic Bone, directly above Mazurka's womb.
- - - - - - - - - -
The RAVE still sat in the Lotus position, it's hands a blended lump of white that completely encased the Control Unit of the deceased Unit Too. In the twilight of the late sunset, the white giant was illuminated by floodlights from the makeshift tent city nearby.
Mazurka stood in the twilight of the camp, staring at the white giant.
'Tonight they'll try to get you back… Three days after you left… Three days of damned hard work trying to save as many as we could in this city… We failed with so many of them… Will our attempt with you fail? Are we too late?'
"Final Retrieval Phase will begin in five minutes…" the unexpected voice of the Rave Clone made Mazurka flinch with it's sudden intrusion.
"Will you need to scan my body for this?" Mazurka asked with a frown, not bothering to look at the Rave Clone near her.
"That should not be necessary… We have the biological information we need…"
'Biological Information…' Mazurka shivered at the term, 'Like I'm just a bug under a microscope… But then, as far as STEELY was concerned, Humanity always was… Something to provide them with their kicks, like some brat pulling the wings off of flies…'
Mazurka's face contorted with anger, 'Well at least this 'little bug' had a choice in going under the microscope, and a chance to do something a bit better by doing so, than just provide 'amusement'… And if I ever get my hands on ANY one of those STEELY B------S… Well, we'll just see how 'amusing' they find it, when they find out that THIS 'fly' is a Hornet!'
======================================================================
Fragment - Unwanted Agreement…
The Tent City at the base of the meditating RAVE was alive with activity.
Tonight was to be the culmination of the retrieval efforts for Aesir, and the over worked Clones had been working around the clock to get things ready. The gantry that crossed over the legs of the white giant and ran underneath the fused hands was a new addition, specially built to give whatever aid it could in the retrieval of the Pilot of Unit Too. Various Sensors, power and data cables snaked their way throughout the tent city, and one of the tents had been set up as an emergency surgical ward.
"Surgical ward?" Mazurka had been stunned at the Clones request, "What on earth would you need that for?"
"In case we make a mistake," came the unnerving reply, "Whether or not we are Human, we are still Human enough to be capable of failing…"
That admission had resulted in Mazurka and the Clones having a 'little chat' about 'worst case scenarios'. It was NOT one of the 'happier' conversations Mazurka would ever have with the Clones, especially not with the Clones pointing out…
"…as Operations Director, you would need to authorise euthanasia if she…"
"WHAT?" Mazurka had shouted, "What in H--L are you talking about?"
"Mazurka," the Clone wore a neutral expression, "We may not get her back in a liveable condition, let alone an intellectually viable one."
"…But… Shakey came back all right?"
The Clone shook her head, "They tried to get his mother back and failed… One out of two gives at best a 50/50 chance, even less when you remember that it was the AVE that rebuilt him, NOT Doctor Akatlover… And Aesir's AVE is… unavailable…"
"…oh God…" Mazurka had actually started crying at the implications.
The Clone was quick to reassure that, "We have no intention of failing… But if we do, some types of failure are more surviveable than others… However, even if we succeed, there will be… trade-offs… To start with…"
The final result of the bitter argument that followed, was a solemn agreement between Mazurka and the Clones. One, they would never mention the conversation again, whatever happened. Two, in the worst case scenario, Shakey would only be told the retrieval attempt failed. Three, as Operations Director, Mazurka had the right of final decision in the matter. Four, as Operations Director, Mazurka would be the one to 'do what must be done' in the event of failure…
The subjects of corpse disposal and how to break the news to Shakey that Aesir was dead, were probably the cheeriest parts of the grim conversation…
As the time for retrieval came, a hush fell over the surroundings as the final touches were put in place, prior to the big event…
Within the heart of the NERVIS Base, Mayi Buttin, Moccona Hoover, and UhOh Surfsup sat at various consoles, helping orchestrate the interaction of the MOGGY supercomputers with events on the surface. Various Rave Clones stood by the clasped hands of the RAVE… Other Clones helped operate computer consoles in the NERVIS Base, with one group operating a Medical Scanning Module in which a Rave Clone lay, ready to be used as an emergency body template…
The count-down came over the speakers in the tent city, a courtesy to all those concerned, "Retrieval in… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… MARK!"
Within the clasped hands of the RAVE, the process of retrieval began. The altered TLC began to grow murky, as part of it came out of solution, forming first into selected chemicals, then into clumps of chemicals that formed sheets and strands, swirling into packages that flexed into cells, the cells clumping together into a misshapen thing that swelled and changed as it assimilated more and more cells. The thing gradually took shape, gradually looking more and more human as it grew into the shape of a naked adolescent female.
Mazurka stood on the gantry outside the clasped hands of the RAVE. Her expression was grim, and she had one hand stuck inside her jacket Napoleon-style.
…her fingers not so idly resting on the gun in her shoulder holster…
======================================================================
Fragment - Out From Within…
Within mind-space, Aesir stood and watched as the circle of light around her began to fade away, the darkness of the void beyond gradually growing lighter…
"Will this hurt?" Aesir asked, a slight note of fear in her voice.
"Nowhere near as much as your last battle…" Rave replied.
"I should have known," Aesir muttered.
"No change worth having was ever painless," Rave advised, "Whether the birth of a new child, or the killing of food, there is a pain to be paid for any progress that is had. Many refuse progress, as they are afraid of the pain. Instead of seeing the pain as a marker that shows how far they've come, they see the pain as some sort of punishment."
"I'm not afraid of pain!" Aesir stated in defiant tones.
Then the circle of fading light reached Aesir, it held for a moment, then suddenly blinked out, accompanied by a tortured screech as the concentrated mental essence that had been Aesir, was inverted back into the whole of the dimly lit void Rave now floated in.
A series of unprintable curses in German sounded in the grey void.
"I told you it would hurt," Rave said.
"Yeah, RIGHT!" came the sarcastic reply, "Now get me OUT of here, and GET OUT OF MY MIND while you're at it!"
"Of course," Rave murmured, a smile on her face, "I believe the exit is…"
- - - - - - - - - -
"…Right above you Aesir!" Mazurka's relieved voice bellowed out, "Give me your hand, I'll pull you up!"
Blinking and coughing up TLC, Aesir stood up in the confines of the Control Unit, then suddenly shrieked and ducked down, her hands covering her feminine charms from the view of any perverts in the area.
"I'M NAKED!?" Aesir shouted in horror, "Why Am I Naked?"
Mazurka smiled, 'Sounds like Aesir, and LOOKS like Aesir, except for…"
"WHAAATTT???" Aesir screamed in shock, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HAIR???"
In their attempt to restore Aesir, the Clones had their hands full dealing with the essentials of corporeal reconstruction, little things like making sure the right number of arms and legs would be created, and that the skeleton would be on the inside of the body…
One problem the Clones had to sort out, was the number and arrangement of hair follicles in the skin. While Aesir's genetic code took care of most the small details involved, it hadn't been able to handle one of the BIG issues…
…How to grow back the many years worth of long luxuriant hair that Aesir was so proud of…
The Clones had solved it in the same manner as they had solved how to grow back the eyelashes, eyebrows, and other body hair Aesir had…
They didn't…
Instead, they just re-created the hair follicles, and left them to regrow Aesir's hair at the normal rate of hair growth…
Consequently, despite the success of recreating Aesir's body relatively intact from a primordial soup, Aesir was not only as bald as a billiard ball, but as far as the rest of her body went, she appeared completely hairless.
"OH MY GOD!" Aesir screeched, her voice in fingernails-scraping-the-blackboard mode as one of the hands shielding her charms from the gaze of perverts found out the 'extent' of her condition, "WHAT PERVERT'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?"
'Yep!' Mazurka thought with a grin, 'Aesir's Just Fine!'
Elsewhere, Shakey's 'Vague Sense of Impending Doom' had an epileptic fit…
======================================================================
The END of this Fragment of "Altered Lives (The Parody)"
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