Then
Blades slice through flesh. Ruddy-red blood drips from nerveless limbs, drip-drip-dripping into the drain. Mistress' test subject pants breathlessly, writhing in agony with every slice of the scalpel, howls as her bones are cracked open and the meat of her organs is exposed to the air.
"Scalpel," Mistress commands, extending her hand impatiently and V-2631 dutifully complies before stepping back in line with the rest of her sisters.
"Tch. Worthless, just like the rest of my clones," Mistress Cruor Hemis mutters. "No sense, no self, no spark. Just hollow, empty shells. Do you things even possess souls?"
As one, V-2631 and all of her sisters shake their heads. V-2631 breathes in, forcing herself to remain calm. To remain silent. Not to utter a single word of defiance. V-2631 has seen what has happened to the other clones, the ones who think they have souls.
Any clones that become 'interesting' are taken to be experimented on, and then disposed of. Any clones that emote too much are taken, any clones that believe they have a soul, any clone that dares to disobey orders.
V-2630 was taken because she was kind. V-2630 is dying on the operator table because Cruor Hemis saw her comforting some of the younger clones and decided that a test subject with empathy would make for fascinating research material.
V-2631 wants to speak up. V-2631 doesn't want to look into the gaping voids where V-2630's eyes used to be, to hear her wheezing cries, to watch her fade away.
… But V-2631 also does not want to be a test subject. V-2631 does not want to be experimented on. V-2631 does not want to die.
So V-2631 says nothing, even as her predecessor unit V-2630 moans in agony on the surgical table, letting out rasping wheezes through her ruined throat and bloodied lips.
"Hammer!" Cruor Hemis snaps, and V-2631 takes the mallet to her creator, placing it in her palm. Cruor Hemis strikes and V-2630 lets out gargled cries as her bones crack, snap, and break, exposing the squiggly marrow within. V-2630 seizes, her heartrate monitor practically screaming out, and then-
"Dead already?!" Cruor Hemis exclaims as V-2630 flatlines. The Dark Magical Girl rolls her eyes, throwing down her scalpel in disgust. "No point resuscitating. These things are disposable anyways. Tch. I hadn't even gotten to the bone marrow implants yet. So weak. You – Take this thing to the recyclers. V-2631, step forward."
V-2631 does not swallow nervously, even though she knows her death is impending. Mistress Cruor Hemis likes to experiment on clones sequentially, after all. V-2631 steps forward without a hitch in her step, doing her best to ignore the sight of the others carrying a mangled corpse out to the reclamation vats to be reprocessed into another of Cruor Hemis' creations.
V-2631 addresses her creator now, daring not to let even the slightest hints of horror or fear show. "Yes, mistress?"
"…" Cruor Hemis drums her fingers against her armrest. The Dark Magical Girl leans back in her seat, studying her carbon copy intently. "Perhaps a change of pace is in order. Why is it that I can imbue my clones with consciousness, but I cannot duplicate my spark?"
"Your spark, mistress?" V-2631 dutifully asks. It's expected of V-2631. The mistress likes to 'rubberduck' against one of her clones. V-2631 does not know what a rubber duck is, but she has been assured by V-5065 that this is what the mistress is doing.
"My magic you slow, dull thing," Cruor Hemis snaps. The Dark Magical Girl flicks her fingers, and V-2631 resists the urge to shift uncomfortably as red un-light fills the room, sparks of blood-red energy flaring off of Cruor Hemis' hand. "Why is it that I can't duplicate the soul? The seat of intellect, the core of magic…?!"
"I do not know, mistress," V-2631 says dully, and Cruor Hemis rolls her eyes again.
"I don't know what I'm expecting, talking about this with failures. Perhaps… Perhaps I need to purge this entire batch and move onto the W-series of clones," Cruor Hemis muses aloud, and V-2631 tenses. So do the rest of her sisters. Purge this entire batch? That means… That means…!
"No, no. I shouldn't. I still need assistants. Perhaps 50% of the batch? Or maybe…" Cruor Hemis drums her fingers against her armrest, and V-2631 catches herself sagging with relief. Life, for a moment longer…! "Yes, maybe I just need to acquire some better test subjects. Test subjects that already contain what I'm looking for. Mmh. Yes, that sounds about right. And I think I know where to get them. And this would let me humble that sanctimounious bitch, Void Heart… Yes. Yes, that sounds like a grand plan. Yes…"
V-2631 listens to Cruor Hemis muttering to herself for a brief moment longer, then snaps to attention as her mistress approaches.
"… You. V-2631. V-2839. V-2760."
"… Yes, mistress?"
"Sterilize this mess," Cruor Hemis flicks her hand dismissively at the blood-stained surgical table. "If it's not clean by the time I get back, you're going in the recyclers. And hm. You, V-145. Gather the rest of your batch and gear up. You have thirty minutes to comply."
"Yes, mistress," the assembled clones chorus, and Cruor Hemis nods with clinical self-satisfaction.
"Excellent. Proceed." The Dark Magical Girl stands, escorted out by a gaggle of V-2631's lab-coat-clad sisters, leaving V-2631 in silence with V-2839 and V-2760. Three identical faces peer at each other, faces that finally let emotions slip onto their faces now that their mistress has left.
"…" V-2631 waits for Cruor Hemis' footsteps to recede, then waits for fifteen more seconds. "… It's safe to talk now."
V-2839 exhales loudly. "… So it is. I don't know how you do it, V-2631. How you just – just stand there when the mistress is-"
"… You get used to it," V-2631 states quietly, her mind flashing through all the things she's seen in her short lifespan. So many sisters, eviscerated and left to rot on surgical tables. Pulled apart by Cruor Hemis' maniacal search for… What, exactly? V-2631 doesn't know. Perhaps it's better if V-2631 never knows.
"We almost died, didn't we?" V-2760 states tremulously, her lip quivering. She was always one of the more emotional of V-2631's sisters. V-2631 pities her because of that. It makes it all the more likely that she'll end up on the wrong side of Cruor Hemis' knife.
"… Yes," V-2631 replies.
"… Sister, I don't want to die," V-2760 whispers, and V-2631 closes her eyes.
"… Neither do I," V-2631 whispers back, looking around. The cameras are off. Which means…
On impulse, V-2631 wraps her arms around her sister, cradling V-2760 to her. Wet tears patter down V-2631's uniform, tears streaming uncontrollably from V-2760's eyes. V-2760 sniffles, her shoulders wracked with huge sobs.
"Sister, I don't want to die…!"
"Shh. Shh…" V-2631 says, tentatively patting her sister on the back, much like V-2630 used to, a thought that sends an unexpected pang of emotion through V-2631. "We'll – We'll get through this. Somehow. Somehow…"
Will the V-series of clones get through what Cruor Hemis has planned? All indications are that Cruor Hemis will purge this iteration of her clones in favor of a new batch. It's what she's done with previous batches. V-2631 was assigned to the records room. V-2631 knows what happened to batches A through U.
But V-2631 says nothing because expressing the sheer bleakness of her situation would lower morale. And it would just make V-2760 cry more. So, V-2631 stands there and lets her sister cry on her shoulder.
V-2630 would have done something similar. This much V-2631 knows.
"… Thank you, sister. Thank you…" V-2760 pulls away now, taking a bracing breath.
"Come. We need to clean this space before the mistress returns. You grab the mop. I'll pick up the cleaning chemicals," V-2631 decides to say.
"… Yes, sister."
This is how another day in Cruor Hemis' service passes, for V-2631. Wiping the guts and offal of her predecessor off of the floor, until there's no trace of V-2630. Not even a memory.
That's how life is, in service to the mistress.
Life is short, cheap, and it ends brutally.
Then
V-2631 is not present when her mistress and her sisters return from their raid. She's not present when the test subjects taken in the raid expire, tortured to death by her mistress.
She is present in the aftermath, though.
A rumbling explosion wakes V-2631 from her slumber. The clone's eyes crack open, darting towards the timer built into the frame of her sleeping pod, and then towards the latch sealing the pod's doors.
… What is that sound?
Another explosion. Another, and then another. The alarms briefly flicker on – And then the power cuts out, plunging V-2631's world into temporary blackness. V-2631 squints as the dim, red emergency lights turn on, casting the entire world into blood-red hues.
"… Sister?" V-2760 whispers from beside V-2631. "… What is that noise?"
"I don't know. I'll – I'll investigate," V-2631 whispers. "… Stay here. Keep quiet."
"Yes, sister," V-2760 murmurs. V-2631 unlatches her pod, gingerly stepping out onto the tiled floor. The clone opens the door, and takes a halting step back in horror.
Blood, guts and offal line the hallway. The tattered remnants of what had to have been a clone guard force in the compound. Their tortured remains have been smeared all across the walls and ceiling, like a giant child's finger-painted using their corpses as a brush and their blood like pigment.
Now that the door's been cracked open, V-2631 can also hear – screaming. Lots and lots of screaming. V-2631 swallows nervously.
"What is it?" V-2760 whispers more loudly.
"I think… The base is under attack," V-2631 whispers back fearfully. "I… There's a guard station two blocks down. Near the main labs. I'll go check to see if – If there are still any armaments. You stay here. Lock the door behind me. Do not let anyone else in. Not even the mistress. And – And don't wake the others."
"Not even the mistress? But shouldn't we be defending the mistress?" V-2760 asks.
"The mistress has other clones to defend her," V-2631 says, deflecting from the question entirely. It wouldn't do, after all, to imply that perhaps it would be better if the mistress were to die. Just like V-2631's sisters. Just like all the other test subjects who've been subjected to her petty cruelties.
"… Understood. Good luck, sister."
V-2631 pads out now, doing her best not to step in the puddles of blood and gore festooning the floor of the hallway. Guard station. Guard station, V-2631 just has to make it to the guard station...
V-2631 trips over the arm of a fallen clone and loses her balance. The clone grimaces, doing her best to shut out the grisly sight around her. So many flat, expressionless faces. So many dead sisters, both old and new. It's the emotion on their faces that lets V-2631 distinguish between her newer sisters and the older ones. Her older sisters have flat, expressionless faces, unable to emote.
The newer clones though, they have expressions of unbridled fear and terror on what's left of their faces. Faces that are the same as V-2631's, expressing the same fear and terror V-3620 had just earlier this morning. The same fear V-2631's feeling right this second...
What's going on?
V-2631 turns away, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts and blinking away her tears...
"No! No, no, no! You - Get away from me! You... You!"
And then V-2631 freezes as she hears her creator scream.
"You wretched beast! You vile – contemptible – You're nothing to me. I was practically handcrafted to kill you - GAH! No, stop, please-"
"Not so cocky now, are we~?" V-2631 shivers as a new, sultry voice caresses her ears. A voice that's so sinfully seductive it makes V-2631's heart beat faster, causing her mouth to suddenly dry. "And aww... what's this?"
A crunching, tearing noise rips through V-2631's ears. The clone flinches when she hears Cruor Hemis scream at the top of her lungs in pain.
"There goes your leg. And now you've fallen down. So sad."
"You… You…!" Cruor Hemis moans. "K – Killing me won't bring them back. You're making a mistake. A big mistake. I - I assure you, I can help you, so - Oh god my leg...!"
"Aw, the widdle baby's begging for her stinky life?" The seductive voice purrs, and much to V-2631's horror, she finds herself stepping towards the source of that voice. Even though every instinct in V-2631's body is screaming at her to run, to run for her life. "Gosh, you're so pathetic. You were hyping yourself up five seconds ago talking about how you were handcrafted to kill me and now look at you. What's wrong? Can't grow back your leg? I thought you were better than I was. You can't even manage that? So sad."
"Wait – wait, no, no- GYAH!" Cruor Hemis screeches. V-2631's legs tremble as she hears skin rip, muscle tear, and tendons snap.
"And there goes the other one~!" The voice cheers happily. "Aw, why are you kicking yourself? Why are you kicking yourself? Stop kicking yourself. Stop kicking yourself~!"
More wet noises. This time… Flesh slapping against flesh? V-2631 blinks, her hand trembling above the handle of the door the sounds are emanating from. Behind this door – Behind this door is the source of… Of the thing that's ripped through the base, slaughtered V-2631's sisters and is currently torturing Cruor Hemis. The owner of this nightmarishly compelling voice that's all but forcing V-2631 to go against her better instincts.
V-2631 turns the handle, peeking through the door. What she sees next will haunt her for the rest of her days.
The dim light of the room illuminates two figures. On the floor? V-2631's creator, Cruor Hemis. The Dark Magical Girl has seen better days. Her legs are raggedy stumps, violently truncated from the knee-down. White bone and smashed cartilage juts out from quivering muscle, blood seeps copiously from cut veins torn skin.
And standing above Cruor Hemis is the most breathtaking, horrific individual V-2631's ever laid eyes on. The very model of a sinful succubus with her glistening horns, devilish wings, and an even more devilish smirk across her stunning face. The succubus shifts her hips, planting her heel right on top of Cruor Hemis' stomach, and V-2631 finds herself entranced by the effortlessly seductive motion.
The succubus idly tosses two objects to the side, and V-2631 realizes that those objects… They're Cruor Hemis' legs.
"Kill me. Kill me!" Cruor Hemis begs, sobbing exactly like V-2631's sisters do when they go under her knife. V-2631's stunned to see that she even cries the same way V-2631 does. Her face is a snotty, tear-stained mess of mucus. "Just fucking kill me already!"
"Oh no no no," the dark succubus named Void Heart purrs, and something in V-2631 quivers upon hearing her dulcet tones. "No, no, no. You'll die, but I'll decide when. Not you. Never you."
Cruor Hemis whimpers, and V-2631 takes a halting step back as Void Heart smiles. An empty, terrible, horrible smile that terminates at her eyes. Pink eyes that promise hate, and death, and an eternity of pain and suffering to the person unlucky enough to behold them.
"They were just some fucking pets. They were just some fucking pets… No, wait, please-" Cruor Hemis begs as Void Heart reaches for her arms now. Void Heart laughs gleefully as she plants her foot against Cruor Hemis' sternum, wraps her hands around Cruor Hemis' wrists, and heaves.
Crack, pop, tear. Off go Cruor Hemis' arms. Void Heart's torn them off as easily as ripping the drumsticks off a chicken.
"You know, ordinarily I'd say something about 'language.' I try to be fun that way. But today? I'm not in the mood for fun. Today I just want to make an example out of you, so nobody gets any stupid ideas in their stupid heads about taking what's mine," Void Heart hums contemplatively, before tossing aside her grisly prizes. "What else should I do to you, I wonder…? Ah. I know~!"
Void Heart plunges her hands into Cruor Hemis' belly now, ripping through her guts. V-2631 watches in horror as her creator shrieks and wails.
"No – No – It's growing in me?! It's in my head, I can feel it - It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it – mmh! Mmh, mmh… Mmh!" Cruor Hemis' eyes widen as suddenly her mouth seals shut, her lips receding into her face to be replaced by nothing but blank skin.
"Shh, shh, shh. Burnable garbage doesn't need to talk. Especially not when I'm growing some painful tumors in its sick, diseased brain."
V-2631 swallows, feeling a lump beginning to grow in her throat. Probably as large as the lumps Void Heart's growing in her creator's brain...
"And done! Although… Hmm. You are losing a lot of blood, and I do need to keep you alive. Oh well. I'll just have to have happy torture time somewhere else. This is the part where I'd bring you to my base. Except, well, I don't have a base anymore," Void Heart giggles malevolently. "Funny, isn't it?"
It was not actually all that funny.
"Oh well, I'll just improvise. I know a few people. Oh don't worry, darling, you'll wind up being the talk of the town when I'm finished with you. Come along now~!"
"Mmh. Mmh, mmh! Mmh!" Cruor Hemis moans helplessly as Void Heart grabs one of her stumps and starts bodily dragging her towards the door. Towards… Towards…
Oh no. V-2631 needs to run. She needs to run, but her muscles are locked, freezing her in place. Too late to react, too late to run as the pink-haired monster opens the door...
"Oh, hello~! What's this?"
"Ah… Ah…" V-2631 trembles as she finds herself coming eye-to-eye with this sweet, sinister devil. This beautiful yet vile monster who's utterly defeated Cruor Hemis, V-2631's cruel creator who's so far above V-2631 she can't even contemplate that someone's actually managed to best her. And yet, that impossibility has occurred.
"Well, you're a cutie, aren't you?" Void Heart smiles winningly, and V-2631 flinches upon seeing how sharp her canines are. "What's your name?"
"Hnn… Ah…" V-2631 whimpers plaintively as primal fear overtakes her better instincts. She sinks to her knees, feeling warm, wet liquid beginning to trickle down her thigh. The hot stench of urine fills the air, and Void Heart's nose crinkles upon detecting the stench.
"Oh dear. How adorable," Void Heart laughs. "So frightened of me she peed herself. That's actually a rather cute reaction. I do enjoy some fear in my playthings. And I am in need of more playthings…"
"N – no," V-2631 whimpers. Plaything? Another cruel mistress who'd torture and violate V-2631 until she dies? Even worse than Cruor Hemis? Cruor Hemis who's already so casually cruel she'd have snuffed V-2631 out as easily as eating cold soup? No. No, V-2631 needs to – To run. To get away from this horribly seductive monster. She needs to flee, she needs to run away-
V-2631 scoots back on her butt, struggling to stand on her wobbly legs. Void Heart watches her with bored disinterest.
"Then again, I don't like your face. Probably because it's the same face as this slut's," Void Heart drawls, kicking Cruor Hemis hard in the ribs. So hard her ribs audibly crack, causing V-2631's mistress to let out even more muffled cries of pain. "I have better things to be doing too. So, run, little mouse. Run along and maybe, just maybe-"
"AAAAAH!" V-2631 screams as she starts running away. Run, run, got to run, can't stop running, the monster'll catch me if I stop-
V-2631 trips and falls.
Her nose crunches as she lands flatly on her face. Pain lances through her head, pain from the impact against the hard floor, from her squashed nose. Still V-2631 scrabbles forward, this time on her hands and knees. V-2631 needs to run, she needs to run…!
Now
Valerie, the girl formerly known as V-2631, jerks awake, sweat beading across her brow. The Dark Magical Girl just barely manages to suppress her frightened, terrified scream.
… That dream again. Of course Valerie would be dreaming of her. Especially after that encounter Valerie had with the monster, the demon known as Void Heart.
"… You alright?" Vanguard Sentinel asks, looking a bit concerned.
"I – I'll be alright," Valerie says quietly as she accepts the glass of water her teammate hands her.
"It looked like you were having nightmares," Vanguard Sentinel says bluntly. "And I'm gonna be honest, you don't look alright."
"… Just a bad dream or two. I'll be fine… Thank you," Valerie says quietly, and Vanguard Sentinel shrugs.
"If you say so. Do you wanna talk about it?" Vanguard Sentinel offers.
"No, no… I just need some time to myself," Valerie says, shifting her weight as she gets out of bed. "But… Thank you for offering."
"Yeah, well, we're both in this gig together. We might as well stick together," Vanguard Sentinel grins shakily, and Valerie finds herself returning that grin. Along with feeling a stab of guilt. Because… Because Void Heart's asked Valerie to betray her teammates. To inform on her teammates. In truth, if it were just Bitter Blossom, Valerie wouldn't feel nearly as conflicted.
Bitter Blossom is exactly like Valerie's creator. In all the awful, rotten ways.
Vanguard Sentinel on the other hand is… Nice. Surprisingly easy to work with. Very congenial.
But Valerie's still going to betray her.
If there's one thing Valerie's learned in her brief, miserable existence, it's that you have to look out for yourself first. And right now, Valerie needs to be looking out for herself and her sisters. Especially now that the demon named Void Heart is here, in this city. The one who liberated Valerie from her wretched existence by killing Valerie's creator. But also the one who inspires such fear in Valerie it's crippling. Just the mere thought of Void Heart sends shivers down Valerie's spine.
"… Where do you think Bitter Blossom is?" Valerie winds up asking in an attempt to change the conversation. And maybe get her mind off of Void Heart.
"Who the fuck knows?" Vanguard Sentinel sighs, and Valerie finds herself sharing in the older girl's weariness. "And more importantly who the fuck cares? She's probably off raping and murdering some helpless muggles again. That's what she was doing the last time I went to try to see what she was up to."
Valerie's lips thin. "… That's inefficient. And wasteful. And it increases the odds that-"
"That we'd get the law on our asses, yeah," Vanguard Sentinel drawls. "Murder? From someone who's as sloppy as Bitter Blossom is? Kind of draws a lot of attention. Terminus City might be a shithole, but the TCPD are entirely capable of picking out serial killers. Not to mention the fact that the MGA's actually sent reinforcements now that their precious golden girl's out of town. You know, our meal ticket? The one we were specifically sent here to kill?"
"That is problematic," Valerie agrees. "Perhaps it could be beneficial, though? If Bitter Blossom were to have an altercation with the MGA…"
It would solve many of Valerie's problems if Bitter Blossom were to go away. So many. And Valerie's human enough to admit that she'd take a perverse thrill in learning that contemptible bitch had finally bitten the dust.
"I know a squealer when I see one, and I can tell you that Bitter Blossom'll squeal like a pig if push comes to shove. You really think she won't narc on us if she gets put in lockup?" Vanguard Sentinel grumbles, and Valerie sighs.
"That is a valid point," Valerie admits sadly, then sighs. "… I'm going outside for a bit. I need some fresh air."
"You calling your family again?"
"… Mmh," Valerie nods, swinging her legs out of her bed and rummaging around on her nightstand for a few ration bars. And her phone. "… I think I will. Excuse me."
"I'm telling you, sis, we're fine," Violet, the clone formerly known as V-2760 chatters happily.
"The colony's doing well, then?" Valerie says, eyes focused intently on her screen, which displays a whole gaggle of clones crowded around the singular camera.
"Nobody's given us any trouble since you left. We do have some of the small-fry Dark Magical Girls sniffing around, though. That turf war on the lower levels is heating up, which means girls are just looking to expand their holdings," Violet reports.
"I see…" Valerie chews on her lip. "… How do our funds look?"
"We've got the essentials, but we're out of the luxury items," Violet says glumly, and Valerie's eyes widen.
"… No more chocolate?" Valerie asks, and Violet nods dejectedly.
"Yep. No more sweets."
The horror.
"I'll send back more money," Valerie promises. "My employer just gave us our first paycheck. It'll take a while to launder that many credits, though."
"Alright, I'll keep an eye out. Thanks sis."
"Mmh…" Valerie mutters. "… Anything else?"
"One thing, actually. Void Heart showed up recently."
Valerie's heart stutters. She freezes in place. "… Void Heart? In New Vegas?"
"Yeah. She said that – That Terminus City belonged to her now. Sis, I really think you need to get out of there. You're the one who said that-"
"You're safe, though?" Valerie implores desperately. "You're fine? All of you?"
"Yeah, she didn't come anywhere near us. She just showed up to throw a party and then left immediately afterwards. That was last week, so…"
"So she should be back in Terminus City," Valerie finishes, a familiar lump beginning to form in her throat. Suddenly it's become hard to swallow. Or even think.
"Sis, are you alright?"
"Yeah, just – Just thinking," Valerie mutters, even as a cold sweat begins to form on her brow. "I'll talk to you later. I love you all. Stay safe, okay?"
"Okay. Goodbye, sis."
"Goodbye…" Valerie ends the call, then collapses into a chair. The Dark Magical Girl stares out dully across the balcony at the skyline of Terminus City. Under better circumstances, Valerie would have appreciated the sight. Sure, the city's a desolate, smog-filled place. But it's still the Outside. An entire world that exists outside of the confines of Cruor Hemis' base.
Even a dismal place like this represents freedom. Freedom to live, freedom to enjoy tasty treats.
Except… Valerie isn't free. Not while Void Heart lives. Not while Void Heart has her in her thrall. It's a small mercy that Valerie's cruel mistress hasn't yet done anything, hasn't made any changes to Valerie to solidify her control. Maybe Valerie should run before that happens. Break her contract, flee to New Vegas, pack up her sisters and – And move to the furthest corner in the world away from that monster. Yes, that's sounding more and more like it might be the best course of action-
"Hey, hey~! Cute talk, nice to see your family's doing well. How are you doing, darling~?" Void Heart phases into visibility, her optical camouflage spell winking out of existence in a flash of pink sparks.
Upon seeing her, Valerie screams at the top of her lungs, falling out of her chair as she scrambles to try to get away.
How long has she been there?! What the fuck?!
"Wow, rude. Am I really that scary?"
Valerie screams even louder, and Void Heart sighs.
"I'm so glad I put up that 'do not disturb' ward. Someone'd hear your screaming otherwise. But... You know, this isn't going to be a productive conversation if you keep screaming. Hmm..."