The first day of the rest of your life

It had taken some time and quite a bit of persuasion from both Ai and Alley but Sam had finally let Ai go in alone for treatment. He hadn't wanted to. He was a mess in so many ways. Alley hadn't been able to explain much, but what she had told Ai horrified the former soldier. Neither of them had pushed Sam, but he needed treatment too for his own physical ailments. Ai had been at his side when he had gone under anesthesia and she had promised that she would be there when he woke. Alley had nodded and without a word, had made sure that Ai would be there. But then, Ai had to get this done. The sooner the better. Alley was busy with all kinds of stuff, so another had been tasked to sit with Ai while she was cleansed of the horrible weapon floating inside her body.

"Alley says I don't want to know." Arisha said very quietly as Ai lay in the apparatus Alley had built.

In form, the machine looked like a modern, fairly high tech bed albeit, one made of green nanotech materials like the Elders had been fond of. It was far more comfortable than even the best beds that Ai had ever slept in, far less the bunks she had been in most recently. The only odd things were the tubes that were attached to her legs and arms, attached her flesh over top of major arteries. There were no injections, no incisions. Some kind of biotech mechanism was filtering the venom out of her blood as it circulated through her body. The process was slow, but far safer than Alley simply yanking it out of her. Ultrasonics played across any muscles that got tense and it was all she could do not to fall asleep as every iota of her being was eased. But, she had to stay awake. Arisha had been more than fair, waiting all this time and not pestering Ai at all.

"You probably don't." Ai agreed. "But I promised Alley I would not lie to any of the nest, so ask what you will. If I cannot say, then I will say that."

"This is really bothering me." The young Viper admitted. "I can never reproduce. The Elders made me and all the rest of the nest that way. You are sterile and unlike us, Alley might be able to fix it. You don't want to have kids?" Arisha asked slowly.

"I was made to fight, Arisha." Ai said quietly. "No more. No less. You and your nestmates had another purpose. A horrible one, but you did have another purpose besides fighting."

"You know about that-?" Arisha paused and then chuckled. "Of course you do! Alley probably told you all about that."

"She did." Ai slumped a bit in the bed. "You have my sympathy, Arisha. Watching your nest mates die like that… I saw my comrades die all around me and there was often nothing I could do. I know the feelings. Despair. Helplessness. Rage. All of that." She held out hand to the Viper who took it. "I knew as soon as I finished my education that I would fight and maybe die, but you… You had no idea, did you?" Arisha shook her head and Ai choked back a sob. "I am sorry. I saw so many of my brothers and sisters fall, but we had the chance to fight back. You didn't."

"We didn't understand what was going on." Arisha said sadly. "Everything we had been told turned out to be lies or half truths. We knew things were bad, but we had no idea we were weapons of mass destruction."

"Your Mother freed you. She, Mark and now Alley have all given you a gift beyond measure." Ai gave Arisha's hand a squeeze and the Viper returned it gratefully. "Choice is both a wonderful gift and a terrible burden. I read somewhere that choice was a blade with two edges. It can cut either way and it often does."

"Yes, it does." Arisha nodded soberly. "Is that why? You don't seem the type to deny yourself choice."

"In a way but it not that simple." Ai blew out a deep breath. "Arisha? What is the single most common emotion in humans?" Arisha stared at the bedridden female and then looked thoughtful. "Take your time. Think about it. I did when I was asked the same thing. It was part of my education."

"I want to say happiness, sadness, any of those, but that is not where you are going, is it?" Arisha asked, her face going still.

"No." Ai replied. "The most prominent human emotion for 99.999% of humanity is selfishness."

"Ai, what does that have to do with you being sterile?" Arisha asked, a little snide. "You are not selfish!"

"Oh yes, I am!" Ai retorted and Arisha stilled, staring at her. "I want what I want. Give it to me or get out of my way because I am going to get it! An example: Anyone who gets in the way of my way of helping Sam will get run over. I do not remember it, but apparently Jian got in my way." Arisha jerked back, hauling her hand out of Ai's and Ai let her go. "I do not take such well."

"Sam needed you." Arisha all but pleaded, and Ai nodded.

"Yes, he did. Yes, he does." Ai agreed. "He may not be my Jefferson, or at least not completely, but I really don't care! Anyone who gets in the way of me helping him will get run over or shot." Totally calm, totally cool, totally inflexible. Arisha's eyes bulged and Ai nodded. "Selfish."

"Trying to help someone else is not being selfish!" Arisha protested.

"Okay, let me put it another way." Ai said after a moment's thought. "Do you know what Cobra wanted to do in the 1980s TV show? The one that Alley copied to make us?"

"Rule the world." Arisha said instantly, clearly unsure of where this was going.

"We could." Ai said flatly and Arisha went utterly still. Ai nodded. "We were made to be faster than baseline humans. Stronger than baseline humans. Smarter. More adaptable. Most of us survived a war that 95% of humanity died in! We, the clones Alley made, are superior to humans in many ways."

"So, why don't you rule?" Arisha asked, almost punch drunk now.

"We are not human any more than you are, Arisha. It would not end well if we tried to rule humanity." Ai replied. The Viper just looked at her and Ai smiled, a bit forlornly. "We won't do that and as for why? Because Alley asked us not to destroy humanity."

"WHAT?" Arisha demanded, backing away from the bed and almost all the way to the wall. The room wasn't that big and the bed was the only furniture in it.

"As soon as we arrived on the scene, we could have taken over. We might have done better than some of the idiot politicians, truth be told. During the war, some residents of the city got fed up with the rampant corruption and silliness. They asked us to take control and we refused." Ai was staring off into space now. Seeing something that only she could. "We are not human. If we pretend to be even with the best of motives? Things would get very bad, very fast."

"Why?" Arisha started and then she went utterly still. "Oh no…"

"No matter how well we do or how carefully we act, eventually humans would see us as a threat. Rightfully so. We are." Ai said with a nod. "Even if, by some miracle, we were the most benevolent rulers imaginable and did everything to make life as easy and comfortable as we could… Humans are human and humans hate." Ai paused as Arisha gave a sob. "I don't mean to be so blunt. I am sorry. Not all humans are mindless sheep or bigots, Arisha, but if there is one thing that unites humans in my experience, it is hate. My kin and I had long talks about this in between battles. Some of us wanted to do whatever we could to make things better for humanity and others of us realized that doing such would the absolute worst thing we could do. If we teach humanity to rely on us, us flawed copies of humanity, for everything, we are teaching to them to be betrayed. We are no better than they are in any way except physically. We hate just like the worst examples in human history and if they attacked us, which someone would, eventually, we would react as we were trained and they would die. All of them. We do not do 'limited' war."

"So, no kids, because…" Arisha slithered a little bit back towards the bed, her face falling.

"For one, we clones are physically more robust that humans. We would have more kids and our population would quickly outnumber the regular humans." Ai said with a wince. "A fertile ground for ignorant prejudice if I have ever heard of one, no pun intended." Arisha hissed and then nodded. "And if not? Even without a war, which I bet would happen as soon as humans realized what was happening, humanity would die out. We would simply out-breed them. We flawed copies would be the norm and that is just plain wrong. Alley asked us not to destroy humanity. We won't! End of story."

"She...didn't do it, did she? Sterilize you." Arisha asked and Ai just looked at her. "She… She wouldn't do that to you. I don't care how desperate she was! She wouldn't!"

"Arisha, I cannot answer that." Ai said flatly and Arisha jerked again, then nodded.

"And here? Now?" Arisha all but begged.

"Here and now, Sam needs me." Ai allowed. "He is too young and too much of a mess to think about children right now, so it is irrelevant for now. Yǎtíng and I are both sterile. She will be under close scrutiny for the rest of her life, as will I. We both made messes. We have not discussed this among-st ourselves, but we don't have to. I know her thinking on this. It matches my own. We have no right to bring children into the world only to abandon them, which we will. You know." The last was cold and hard and Arisha gave another sob.

"I do." Arisha's voice was tiny. "I just…"

"You want to make things better." Ai relented and smiled at the disconsolate Viper. "You want to make me happy. Thank you for that. It is appreciated. I am not going to die today or this week, but eventually, this body will fail. It is not human. It is a flawed copy of a human. Maybe Alley can make me a new one, maybe not. If she does and it is human, I will consider children. Until then? No. We have enough problem, I won't add to them."

"I see." Arisha slumped a bit and nodded. "I do not agree that humanity would do such, but I can see you do and I did read history. I guess I can see your point even if I do not agree with it. So much of that was not pleasant reading and a great deal of it all boiled down to selfishness."

"No. Not pleasant at all." Ai paused as something beeped in the bed. She stared at the bed and then at the Viper who looked thoughtful. "Arisha?"

"It is done." The Viper smiled and then a small blue form appeared beside her. Lizbeth looked like a little girl, but she wasn't one. Not by a long shot. "Lizbeth?"

"I will take the container of nastiness to Jian. She can store it or dispose of it safely." Lizbeth eyed Ai who wilted a bit under the Chosen's scrutiny. Then Lizbeth shook her head. "You are crazy, girl."

"Yes, Ma'am." Ai agreed. "If not for Sam, Jefferson, whoever… I would have gone the way of the others who lost their minds." Lizbeth seemed to deflate, but then she nodded. "I am sorry for whatever I said. Whatever I did. I am sure I made you just as mad as I made Jian."

"Do I want to know?" Arisha asked. "I get what you do and why, but… Do I want to know?" She repeated. Lizbeth and Ai shared a look, but then Lizbeth gave a tiny nod.

"When we,…" Ai broke off and took a deep breath. "When members of my organization lost control, there was no stopping us. HQ tried so many things to help us and none of it worked. We were too stubborn, too set in our ways and frankly? Too dangerous. We had a rule in the Nightstalkers. We would not threaten our family. Ever. We did our duty to the end. When one of us went nuts, they were sent on a solo op as a diversion from whatever else Cobra was doing. They would make a hell of a mess and draw enemy attention away from wherever our other ops were before they died. The only two who were not sent out like that were me and Biyu. Jefferson sang to me and it pulled me out of my pit of rage and despair. Biyu… Well…" Ai made a face. "We may be clones and sterile, we are not sexless."

"What?" Arisha asked and Lizbeth shook her head quickly and fervently. "She couldn't have kids."

"No." Ai said with a slightly sick look. "But she could help other people with the act of conceiving and then, she became a second mom to those kids. She was… um… probably is still…" She trailed off as Arisha made a gagging noise.

"Insatiable." Lizbeth said flatly and Ai nodded. She shook her head as she looked at Ai, her face turning sympathetic. "My dear, this won't be easy for you. He is not your Jefferson, even if he has the memories."

"I know." Ai agreed. "He and I will find a place, a rhythm. A way to coexist. As you say, it won't be easy, but we do still mesh. We can still calm each other. That will help a great deal. I will help Alley with her kids."

"One thing." Lizbeth asked as she tapped the side of the bed and a small glowing green cylinder slid from it into her hand. "No one could figure out why that song worked. Disturb's cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence' is an incredible piece of music." Arisha and Ai both nodded to that with wide smiles. "Anyone who hears it who is not tone deaf will say that. But the docs tried to get through to you with music."

"Neither of us was sure. It did speak to me, on so many levels. Darkness was my friend, my second home. My job. They tried everything else, Lizbeth." Ai slumped in the bed as the tubes retracted, releasing her to get up. She sat up slowly and smiled as Lizbeth offered her a free hand. "He was going to let me go. I had told him about our plans in the Nightstalkers and then, after Jing and Yan, I lost it. I was going to charge the Cult all by myself, probably with an explosive vest so they could not take me alive and do what they did to those poor girls. Then, he sang that to bid me farewell and I woke up. Started singing with him and everyone was shocked. Elated, but shocked. No one could figure out why or replicate it with anyone else. Everyone assumed love called me back from the brink. That is what 'I' think happened." She said with a tender smile. "So, here I am to do the same for him."

"Odder things have happened." Lizbeth gave Ai's hand a squeeze. "I mean, look at me!" The blue girl grinned at Ai's smile and then she sighed. "For me, I took no offense. I will give Jian your apology, but she knows. Love makes us all do odd things. Just please? Don't give us any more heart attacks this week?" She begged comically. "Please?"

"I will do my best." Ai sat up with Lizbeth's help and then she looked at Arisha who was shaking her head, bemused. "I still have healing to do and then therapy. Both physical and otherwise. Yǎtíng is not going to let me slouch off."

"Neither will we." The blue girl and the Viper chorused and Ai cringed dramatically, but all three were smiling. Then Lizbeth was gone. No fanfare, no bright flashes of energy, just gone.

"We better get going." Arisha blew out a breath as Ai settled herself on the floor and nodded. She wore X-Com fatigues now that felt wrong to her, but here? Everyone did. Not because they were part of X-Com, but because X-Com was supplying the place and providing security. "I know Yǎtíng is- Oh, speak of the devil."

The mismatched closes paused as the door tot her room opened and Yǎtíng all but hurtled in. She was shaking in agitation and both Ai and Arisha paused as she stalked up to them, her eyes all but flashing.

"Yǎtíng?" Ai asked when Arisha did not speak. "Problem?"

"No one will tell me!" Yǎtíng snapped, angry, but clearly not with either of these two. "I ask and ask, but no one will say! I can help the poor girl! That has to be why I am here. To help her and you and Sam, Ai, but I want to know that piece of shit who hurt her is not still out there hunting other girls!"

"Oh." Arisha relaxed, to Ai's shock but her face was sad. "You met Maya."

"Yes!" Yǎtíng snapped and then relented. "Apologies. I am not mad at you. Either of you. Seeing that poor kid like that… I would have done such once and probably laughed about it but I would have been far gentler about it! She is so strong and so brave but what he did to her… She is so hurt. So close even now to a complete breakdown! He didn't bother to cushion the blow! Whoever did that was no doctor! He just shifted her!"

"No, he wasn't." Arisha agreed. "He is dead, Yǎtíng."

"Are you sure?" The former cultist pressed. "Fair warning; If I see him, I am killing him with my bare hands! As bad as what I did was, that was far worse!"

"He is dead, gone and buried in an unmarked grave." Arisha promised. "Yes, Maya is hurt and yes, he did it and enjoyed it from all accounts. Alley would have drawn his death out, made him suffer for it for at least a year until he died. From what I understand, it took him four days." She looked the irate brain specialist in the eye and spoke firmly. "Jane Kelly did it and apparently, only with a knife." At that, Yǎtíng went utterly still and then, she smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"Good." Yǎtíng sneered and then she gave herself a savage shake, relaxing. "I want to help. No one can trust me, but I do want to help. Her, I know I can help. Others, maybe. But I want to!"

"You can help Maya?" Arisha asked, a wary hope rising. "The ship her mind is stuck in is falling apart despite everything we can do."

"I can and I can do it fairly quickly." Yǎtíng said with a nod. "I can do it today, given the right gear."

"Then maybe we should help everyone." Ai said slowly and both other stared at her. "I need to introduce myself anyway if I am going to be helping around here, with Sam and the others."

"What do you have in mind?" Arisha asked as she started for the door, the pair of women who shared a face following.

"Something fun."

Later that day

The room was packed. Small forms in uniform stood or sat everywhere. Ai, and Arisha stood with Alley and Sam by the door. Ai knew the rest of the nest were just outside along with several members of X-Com along with cake and few other things to make the day interesting. But it was the other two beings in the room that drew the eye. Jane Kelly looked tired as she sat by the bed, holding the hand of the little girl with the bandaged skull who slept there. Was Jane glowing orange or was that a trick of the light? Ai wasn't sure. Yǎtíng was working on something at the head of the bed, but then she turned to the room and her smile was huge. She met Jane's eyes, held up a hand and started curling fingers. Five, four, three, two…

As Yǎtíng curled her last finger, the girl on the bed coughed and then gasped. Her eyes flew open and then she shut them quickly. Ai understood. Maya hadn't been using them. They would be sore.

"Did… Did it work?" The girl's voice held hope and fear in matching quantities. Instead of answering, Jane gave her hand a squeeze and one of the other kids started singing. That girl had Maya's face, but not a clone from what Ai had heard. A twin.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Maya, happy birthday to you!"

"I..." The girl opened her eyes and stared at Jane who smiled at her, the warrior's eyes glistening. "Colonel? Um, Director?" She corrected herself a bit self consciously.

"Nothing formal today, Maya Parker." Jane said quietly and the girl went still the bed. Her twin did as well and Jane smiled wide. "We are still looking for records on everyone else, but we found out you and Mina's family name." Her smile changed, turned a bit impish. "And… it just so happens that your mom was someone I knew well. Welcome back to your body, Maya and welcome home." She pulled Maya up into a hug as the girl started to cry.

Ai and Yǎtíng shared a smile as Sam stepped close and hugged Ai tight. Alley and Arisha were smiling as well as Mina rose to go to her sister's bedside and the rest of the room started singing happy birthday to her! They were twins after all.

Tomorrow could take care of tomorrow. Heroes might be needed. They might not be.

For today?

They were not needed!