Replicant: Chapter I

In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same.

These eternal words have stuck with me since the Principality's conception. I often think about just exactly what they mean. And how they relate to the world around me. I remember him speaking these words often, his voice always hollow and hushed, almost a whisper. It's always very sad to see him like that. But he always chooses to hide the pain from everyone. From his friends. From his family. Even from me. Not that I particularly mind. But sometimes it does hurt when he's so distant. But in the end, I guess that can't really be helped. It's the kind of man he is after all. The year is 0003, three years after the Space Jump; the event that carried Borealis across an ever expansive sea of stars. And I just turned sixteen a few weeks ago.

All week everyone had scrambled around the facility preparing for the Fuhrer's visit. Including me, admittedly. I had been working myself to the bone in the simulations all month so we could present him with a benchmark that would surpass last semester. After his last visit, it became apparent that he wasn't satisfied with how slow everything was progressing. But he never did pull back any funding for the Cyber Newtype project. Meaning this project was worth the wait. At least in his eyes.

My morning routine in Castle Berowalt was simple. Shower, eat and hang around until 1 PM. It was 11:45 so I spent time in the usual spot. My little own slice of heaven called Rec Room 02. This large, near-empty room, has been spot #1 since I came here some six years ago. It's rather unique in its design too. On the far wall opposite to the door is a holographic panel that shifts scenery every hour or so. I'm told that the high cliffs and tropical beaches it presents are all places that were common on Earth. The usual spot is also the only recreational room in the facility with a zero-G funnel. Meaning you can float around like it's nothing, which I often do during my time between tests and school. But usually, I'm alone this early in the morning, seeing as how I wake up long after everyone in the facility is at work.

But surprisingly, the door opens. When I looked over, I saw who entered and smiled. Conlaoch, a boy who was much younger than me and lived his entire life in the facility, stood there looking lost. His black eyes trailed along the floor and up the walls until they found me floating close to the ceiling. I waved at him and kicked off the ceiling, floating over to him.

"Good morning. You're up early." I said, touching down in front of him.

Conloach took his time finding his words and as he did so, he looked very pensive. It's like watching him solve a puzzle before speaking its solution into the air.

"Morning, Joh-hanna. I came to see if you were up yet. Doc-tor A. said I was free until la-ter."

He stepped in and the door closed swiftly behind him. It's then that I realized just how quickly he was growing. Conloach was a clone of someone very important to the Fuhrer, Setanta Macintosh. He was a man considered to be equal to the Fuhrer in terms of skill and vision. But when it came time for Borealis to declare independence from the Earth, he betrayed the cause and fell down to Earth. But Conloach was different. If I remember right, Conloach and his sister were born just this year, after about three years in a tube. Although his sister had no problems, he was an imperfect clone and suffered from a speech impediment. He had trouble with words with more than one syllable.

"So you came to bother your big sister~" I teased, taking him by the hands and kicking back up into the air. Conloach's fat cheeks went a little red and he turned from me, settling into my arms.

"Chloe is bu-sy right now and I got bored. What are you doing?"

"Nothing much. I don't have to be anywhere for another hour so I'm just hanging around. Today we're just going to be running more tests before we actually start working with the Ardjet. Dr. Okoji wants to make a good impression for Rald when he gets here."

"The Ard-jet... that big OF that was moved here some days ago?" Conloach asked, trying to look up at me through the floating strands of his midnight black hair.

"Right, good job. It's the Orbital Frame Rald first piloted when he got to Borealis. He has a lot of history with it and he's entrusted it to me of all people. Isn't that wonderful?"

"It's something..."

"Dr. Okoji says it'll help with my conditioning now that I'm ready for it. 'As the world's first Cyber Newtype, it is crucial that you're able to attune yourself to the machine', he says."

Conloach then let his limbs dangle as we pressed up against the high ceiling and we turned to look out at the holographic horizon. Suddenly he wiggled his way out of my arms and struggled to find a comfortable balance in the zero-gravity. As he tipped over, the tail of his loose-fitting shirt lifted, flashing me the dark purple scar at the base of his spine. The way it cut across his tanned skin was like purple lightning splitting a whiskey colored sky. That glimpse was fleeting though. Out of habit, he pulled down on the bottom of his shirt to hide the scar and slowly turned to face me, now upside down and landing his feet on the ceiling.

"After you finish... will you leave the fa... facil..." he started, but the break in his words only discouraged him. He took the time to quietly mutter the word under his breath before speaking up again. "...Will you leave the facility?"

It was something I hardly thought about but I guess it'd make sense for me to leave after my cyber enhancement was complete. After all, there'd be no reason for me to stay here and keep testing. And by that point, I will be able to directly serve under the Fuhrer. The realization of the fact was something I didn't enjoy. As much as I wanted to make everyone proud, especially the Fuhrer, suddenly leaving Castle Berowalt and being on my own was a scary thought.

"We gotta leave the castle someday. We can't stay here forever." I replied, to which the boy slightly frowned.

"How long do you think it'll be 'til then?"

Again, I felt an apprehension within me. But coupled with it was an underlying excitement that clung to my stomach and made me giddy.

"Hopefully soon. Rald's expecting a lot from me. I don't want to make him wait long."

Conloach, looking a bit sad, pushed off the ceiling and floated down to the floor, landing right-side up. I followed after and nearly stumbled when I landed. Seeing him move away and clam up clued me in. He'd be lonely if I left. Other than his sister, who he hardly even knew, Conloach didn't really have anyone you could conventionally call family. But we've gotten very close during his first year that he's practically my little brother. In spite of my own apprehensions and fears, me leaving Castle Berowalt would be much worse for him.

"Hey," I said as I quickly rounded him and pulled him by the hand over to the door. "You want to go see it? The Ardjet?" His face practically lit up and he stepped forward wordlessly. It made me laugh seeing him so excited. If there was anything he loved, it was giant robots.

Opening the door, we rushed out. Which was a bad idea considering exiting the room and entering a place where gravity is a very real force is pretty jarring. We both stumbled but caught ourselves before hitting the ground. Conloach broke from me and took the lead, breaking into a dash ahead of me. He looked back to see if I followed and sure enough I was on him like the devil. The both of us knew Castle Berowalt by heart. Everywhere we were allowed at least. Running through these halls was commonplace for the both of us too. Everything was so far apart that if you wanted to reach somewhere in good time, you either got in a jeep or ran.

The usual spot was in the tallest tower of Wing B, just below my room and a few others. We'd have to first make it to the ground level before making a dash across the huge courtyard, which marked the center of the facility and into Wing A. From there it was either take an elevator down into the underground Bay 5 or hike down a stairwell that spiraled into the ground. Making a dash like that wasn't too unreasonable for me or Conloach, even though he was only several months old. As we ran through the compound, it became sort of a game of cat and mouse. Conloach bound through the halls like he was being chased by some sort of wildcat. And by God, I was running him down like a tiger.

I don't remember how many times we've been yelled at for running in the halls and bypassing the security checks and scanners, and I wasn't about to start counting. We were in Wing A now and Conloach had broken out ahead of me when he swiped his ID several times at one of the doors, locking it for about ten seconds. Now he stood at the far end of the hall, smiling at me from inside an elevator. I only had a few seconds to spare before those doors closed on me so I kicked into high-gear. My legs were starting to scream in protest as I pushed them past their limits. The little brat saw me waver and figuring he won, he had the audacity to smugly wave at me as the doors began to close. And that's when he underestimated me. On this entire base, there was absolutely no one who could outrun Johanna von Westerland.

Conloach's eyes widened as he saw me rapidly pick up speed. His tiny fingers started mashing the elevator keys in panic. Little did he know that by the time he looked back up, I was already upon him like a sandstorm. I slipped passed the doors, pivoting on one foot and slamming into him. The ding of the elevator and the small jolt of its descend marked the end of the chase.

"God, you're fast..." Conloach groaned under me as I moved off of him.

"You know it. There isn't a being alive who can run faster than me."

"Guess so."

The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open. I poked my head out, tossing gaze around to see if anyone was present. Seeing it was empty, I took Conloach by the hand and led him out onto the balcony. Bay 5 was the largest of the several underground hangars used for housing a mass of secretly developed weapons and prototypes. It's just about thirty meters from top to bottom with three decks, each marked by its own set of railings and balconies. It's always cold here and normally very loud. But oddly enough, there weren't many people there save for Conloach and I. Peering over the balcony, I saw what we came to see at the very bottom. We then hurried down the metal steps, careful not to trip and fall in our excitement. Finally, we reached the platform the Ardjet rested on.

It difficult to properly do the Orbital Frame justice with just words. It towered over us like a shining metallic giant, enamoring us as our eyes danced along its sleek frame. It was humanoid in form, and very slim at that. Lines trailed up its body like seams, all connecting to the underside of its dark reflective eyes. It took the shape of a woman, something I always admired about it. Everything from the sharp points of its feet to its head was an example of expert engineering. But more than that, the Ardjet was a symbol. Though its successor would go on to be the Fuhrer's mainstay, this was what started it all. The OF he fought alongside his comrades with. It's a machine filled with memories, and I'm sure they flow through it like blood flows through my own body.

As I study the machine, my mind begins to wander off into some unknown place. Thoughts about the near future come to greet me and I eagerly begin filing through them. I was going to sit in the same cockpit the Fuhrer did over ten years prior. What's more, I'll be shuffling through the memories of the old AI Battle Computer. I feel my heart race at the thought of that alone. Above all, that AI was perhaps the Fuhrer's most trusted ally. Rumors even say that she is what solidified his dream to form the Principality in the first place. Something this important was being entrusted to me. Rald was trusting me with something so precious to him.

"What do you need the Ard-jet for, Johanna?" Conloach asked.

"The next step in my cyber enhancement is live psycho stress testing. Since the battle computer aboard the Ardjet is no longer operational, it'll be easier for me to sync up with. The long and short of it is I'm going to basically plug myself into it. It's not too different from a psycommu; which allows a pilot to control the OF using their brainwaves. By syncing up with the Ardjet, I'll basically be acting as a rudimentary battle AI for the Ardjet. The whole point of the process is to cybernetically enhance my senses through the use of machine. Apparently it just so happens that the Ardjet would be perfect for that or something. I'll even be able to tap into the frame's memory banks once I'm synced, meaning I'll basically be able to see everything that went down years ago."

Conloach swayed a little at the explanation but it didn't dash his interest.

"The AI. It was called...?"

"FARA." I hum, the name left my lips with a mellow flow. "I'm going to be her successor."