Memories
Child of Darkness
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If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.
"I don't think is a good idea."
Tora looked at the tank.
Hey, what could possibly go wrong?
"We're talking about human cloning! They haven't even got close to perfecting that yet, especially not mutant cloning!"
There's a living female clone of James. The Y chromosome was too badly damaged so they borrowed someone else's.
"By borrowed you mean steal?"
No, actually. They bonded half one of the main geneticists with half of James'. The girl turns out okay in the end.
Etana shook her head.
"I'm still not that good on the idea of cloning myself."
Tora buried her head in her hands.
Look, we both know you have less than two decades left. You want to abandon the world to a load of incompetents?
Etana paused. Tora had pulled out one of the best arguments there and they both knew it. Etana often deplored the state of SHIELD and the promise that superheroes would be turning up in a matter of years didn't exactly comfort her.
"I… I suppose I am one of Earth's premier defenders…"
You are Earth's premier defender. No doubt about it!
"Flattery will not get you very far."
On the contrary, flattery will get me everywhere. Imagine your own flesh and blood, whom you can train to be just as good –and possibly even better- than yourself. Imagine that. A hero for the new world, where secrecy isn't needed as much by the ones like us. Someone like Steve, except with your skills. Not a soldier, beholden to a nation but a warrior who fights for what truly matters!
Etana sighed.
"Okay, you win. Give me the syringe."
The blood sample taken, as well as the cheek swab and then Etana winced as Tora picked up the scalpel in her icy hands.
"I'm not looking forward to this bit."
Oh, don't be silly! You won't feel a thing!
"That's what I'm afraid of!"
Tora grinned and with a gesture, slid Etana into unconsciousness. It was the work of a few minutes to quickly get into the parts required and a wave of a hand was all that was needed to fix things up. And then Tora glanced over at the unconscious woman and humming innocently, dropped the DNA samples into the incinerator. After a small amount of collaboration with a certain Torao, the extra samples wouldn't be needed. She closed her eyes and opened the tiny physical gateway to another world and slid one of the vials through, taking one of her own in return. Then she hurried over to the petri dish. Thanking Dragon for the small mercies of being able to 'observe' –it wasn't seeing, just being aware of- what exact chromosomes were in each sample and a bit of temporal manipulation, it didn't take too long for the entire process to be completed –preparation, implementation and the beginning stages. IVF, except with the slightly interesting fact that both gametes came from genetically identical people with one minor chromosome difference. Etana would probably thump Tora if she found out, but it was a whole lot less fiddly than trying to isolate whole undamaged DNA strings.
By the time Etana had woken up, the growth tank was already set up. The look Tora got told her she was in trouble for not waking her friend sooner.
"I wanted to observe. I've not had a chance to see the creation of a clone…"
Tora rolled her eyes.
And people think you're just a dumb fighter who's had one too many thumps to the head. Why on earth did you never tell them about all the science periodical subscriptions?
"I find it easier for people to underestimate me."
"So wait… Was Zillah Etana's clone or daughter?"
"Genetically, she was identical to Etana so she could be classified as a clone, but strictly speaking, she was a daughter. Made by the fusion of gametes between a male and a female of the same species, they just happened to be the same person in alternate realities. An opposite of Laura"
There was a long pause. The masked woman turned and looked at Phoenix and Death quizzically.
"What? I'm good with random useless little facts like that. Would you like me to recite all the sentient races in the universe, in order of the number of chromosomes?"
"NO!"
"You're no fun anymore…"
Phoenix sighed.
"I can't believe you're having a strop because we don't want to be bored senseless."
The mewling baby squirmed in Etana's rather nervous arms. Tora sighed.
Give her here. You're hopeless with babies.
She accepted the bundle and looked at the little girl.
She looks just like you did at that age.
"What, three hours? I still think it's freaky when you did that…thing with your body…"
What? Slight editing to allow me to act as her nursemaid? Nothing more than I did for you.
Etana looked uncomfortable.
Oh, don't be all embarrassed about that, it's totally natural.
"Yes, but I don't like being reminded."
It wasn't even this body. I don't see why you're being so silly.
"It's not…nice to talk about in polite company."
Oh, for pity's sake! It's an entirely natural function and there's nothing to get embarrassed about. Oh, look, she's hungry the little darling.
Etana averted her gaze. This was humiliating.
Have you got a name for her yet?
"No. I didn't really think…"
How about Zillah?
Etana paused. Then muttered, almost as if to herself.
"Shadow… Like that… Pretty… Nice connotations… And Zilla was a good friend… Okay, fine! Zillah it is!"
They both looked at the newly named Zillah, who gurgled contentedly. Tora sniffed then quickly handed the baby over to Etana. There was a slight noise and Tora grinned.
"You're holding her, you change her!"
The look on Etana's face was sheer horror.
"I thought I'd left that behind after Solomon!"
Phoenix raised an eyebrow at the masked woman.
"How could she be so cruel?"
"With ease. Etana did make quite a lot of mess in her teenage years. Also, she was a very difficult baby. Think of it as vengeance."
A.N. Sorry this took so long. I was really busy, having to do some work for the ELT and the JWST at ROE, which probably means nothing to you so don't bother too much except to know I will be very, very busy for quite a while, and may end up having to do a whole extra course that I thought I didn't have to so from now, please don't expect updates with any great regularity. I hope you understand this, and it won't annoy you too much.
S-99