A Bio-Weapon’s Rhapsody

“I am fine, stop looking at me like I will break.” It was getting tiresome, Alexa had decided to return to the form that had caused the problem. And surprisingly…it didn’t start again.

“[Notice; Isolation of troublesome memories have been disconnected from the neural network. Information will be housed within Main Core in case of need to peruse information. This separation should prevent another emotional outburst.]”

The solution Main Core had provided seemed to be useful, and Alexa while annoyed that she hadn’t thought about it, didn’t have any problems with it, Main Core, after all. Was also part of her, even if she spent most of her time within the [Organic Core] aka her [Brain], she still could move around and move things within her [Consciousness Stream].

“Are you sure? Most people need therapy when they come to terms with…” [Stella] was still worried about her, evidenced by the fact that Alexa was sitting waiting for [Eleanore] to arrive. “...what happened to you while little.”

“That happened less than 24 hours ago,” Alexa answered while grumbling, she was the only one without a mask at the moment, and she wasn’t counting [Billy] in that, the man only had googles, which wasn’t a mask. “The problem was dealt with, and it will not happen again. We wanted to check if the clothes would fit after a [Shift] and we proved that they can work both for my [Young Woman Stage], the [Teenager Stage], and [Child Stage].”

“Yes, we did…but…most people don’t recover from an emotional breakdown in minutes, you could break down again, and what will happen if it happens in the streets? We need-” [Stella] was still speaking while [Billy] only nodded, Alexa got the impression that the old man was just going with the flow and had stopped thinking about this. His eyes seemed to shine as if he was seeing something else.

“What is the problem? And where is Rhapsody? She should be here…She a new Minion? Why isn’t she wearing a mask?” [Eleanore] arrived interrupting [Stella], it seemed that she hadn’t recognized Alexa.

“I’m [Alexa] or I guess [Rhapsody] when I put this stupid thing on,” Alexa said turning to [Eleanore].

“Do you know how my power works?” [Eleanore] asked her. Weird, did she want to make sure?

“Yes,” Alexa answered, the moment the words left her mouth she felt the weird energy wave coming towards her and could faintly see [Eleanore]’s eyes shine.

“Name, code name, and reason why you aren’t wearing a mask.” Asked [Eleanore], her tone was…less than friendly than before.

“[Alexandra Saintsworths], Code Name: [Rhapsody]. And I’m not wearing a mask because of two reasons. One my [Core Power] allows me to change my face as needed, and two…. She won’t let me put it on again.” Alexa answered while pointing to [Stella].

“She was almost raped when moving around in her little girl form, when she turned to this one, she noticed the implications and had an emotional breakdown. I am keeping her like this to make sure she is okay, you know how the masks also hide our tone of voice…I wanted to make sure she wasn’t crying under it.” [Stella] said in a rush, [Eleanore]’s eyes were still shining. “...she needs therapy, Eleanore. Whatever they did to her, whatever she went through…If it comes crashing down…”

“It will not happen.” Alexa stated, “I have taken measures to make sure I can work at 100% [Efficiency] already.”

“...all true. How are you so confident? And why didn’t you say that before? I wouldn’t have sent you this way if I knew.” [Eleanore] said frowning, “And remember, only the truth.”

“...I didn’t know the implications of what the [Human] wanted to do at the time, my different [Stages] have access to different parts of the [Human] anatomy, my [Child Stage] form barely has any access to the complex [Social Cues] that are built into the [Human Blueprint].” Alexa started explaining her case.

“See! She speaks as if she wasn’t human!” [Stella] chimed at the side.

“Shush, let her finish…” [Eleanore] admonished the other woman.

“As for how I’m sure it will not happen again…” Alexa said turning to [Eleanore], “My... [Other] friend will be helping with that.”

She wasn’t sure if she should speak too much about that, as far as she remembered from the information her [Child Stage] got, the condition that birthed other [Consciousness Streams] within a [Human] was meant to deal with these kinds of problems.

“...How?” [Eleanore] demanded of her, then turned to all the other people that were still around. “All of you, leave.”

“... are you sure?” [Stella] was the first to ask, but a simple nod from [Eleanore] was all she needed, “Okay, call me if you need something. I need to punch Vulcanus.”

“You are aware that this is my workplace?” [Billy] asked, but a single glare from [Eleanore] was all that was needed to make him leave. “Everyone, you get a minute's break, we will continue working in the hangar. Time to do a check-up to all the vehicles.”

All of the other [Minions] left with [Billy], and after sighing again [Eleanore] turned to her while dragging a chair and sitting in front of her.

“I want to speak with your system mate, get him to explain to me how you both are dealing with this….” [Eleanore] said, then after thinking a few seconds she added, “...there are only two, right? You speak about your other forms as different people.”

“The other [Stages] are me, the difference is that we have access to different parts of the [Biological] functions, that is what makes us different and react differently, but we are still the same,” Alexa answered, then without waiting she started the process to make again the [Speaker] in her throat, this time she had more area to work with.

“[Main Core? Do you have something convincing? We need the work and accommodations. This form doesn’t want to sleep again in our current den.]”

And wasn’t that funny? Even though her [Child Stage] and [Teenager Stage] didn’t seem to have problems sleeping there. Her [Young Woman] found the idea [Repulsing].

“[Acknowledged Host wishes.]” Was all Main core said before the work was done, “[Host, please open mouth.]”

So, Alexa did while rolling her eyes.

“[Greetings Human, we speak again. State your business.]” And once again, Main Core was quite rude. Not that Alexa minded it.

“Hello again…You still haven’t told me your name…Anyway, how are you helping Alexa? Usually, this would need years of therapy.” [Eleanore] said looking with worry at her, that was weird, why was that making her feel…[Warm]?

“[Answer: The memories that made the event that affected host have been isolated and separated from Host’s emotions. Host can peruse them as needed without feeling the emotions tied to them. In your human terms, it would be as if she was watching a movie.]” That was…one way to put it, even if it wasn’t quite correct, it wasn’t a lie of course. Alexa could still peruse them, but the memories hadn’t been separated but deleted and moved away from her [Brain].

“.... My Core Power doesn’t trigger any lie…” [Eleanore] said with narrowed eyes. “But that isn’t the whole truth, is it? I am very good at catching half lies you know.”

“[I have not spoken any lies, lies are things only Humans use.]” Main Core fought back, making [Eleanore] wince, she had detected an odd inflection in Main Core.

“...Truth.” [Eleanore] said only that, “...Is Alexa still in there? The little girl I met?”

“[Yes, host has never left.]” Alexa was still here, sitting, watching with her mouth getting sore….

“Why didn’t she return to sleep with me?” [Eleanore] asked the beginning of a tear in her eyes. “Was I…not trustworthy?”

“[It was deemed the risk was bigger than the reward, host found a viable den to spend the night in her sleep cycle, so that was used. If no viable den was found, you were one of two possible options to check on. Of the two Human Designation: Eleanore would have been picked.]” Main Core answered, well, that was also true. Alexa would indeed have picked [Eleanore], but she had more options?

“Two? So, the other would have been Frank? Next time don’t even think about it. He is a good man, but he isn’t ready to deal with kids.” [Eleanore] smirked at that idea.

“[Second target wasn’t Human Designation: Frank The Bettle, but Human Designation: Teacher Eloise Baker.]” Oh right, there was [Teach] too….

“...Alexa had a teacher? Who is? Where is she?” [Eleanore] stood and turned frantic.

“[Unit Designation: Teacher Eloise Baker. Gave host a card similar to the one you yourself gave her, and she meet her after successfully escaping. Host found a group of [Human Child Stage] and mixed with them while learning of social cues.]” …That…wasn’t wrong…?

“So, she wasn’t her teacher…. Damnit!” [Eleanore] screamed while kicking her chair away. “Can you tell me who hurt Alexa? Give me a name and I swear to you they will burn in hell.”

“[Negative, my priority is host survival. Your Human feelings aren’t my interest. For host’s survival, moving on is the easiest and most effective way.]” Main Core answered. “[That will be all, host is stressing by my constant exposure to your world do you require anything else, Human?]”

“...Do you hate us? Does Alexa hate humanity?” [Eleanore] said in a small tone.

“[Such useless worry. Neither myself nor Host cares about Humanity. All I care about is my host’s survival. You Humans and your Humanity are irrelevant to us. As for what host cares?]” Main Core let the world trail out her mouth, she felt a ping from Main Core to release more control over her facial structure. And since Alexa was getting tired of only having her mouth open, she allowed some small control over herself. “[You may want to ask her yourself, that is. If you are brave enough Human.]”

All that Main Core did with her body was turn her eyes red and smirk at [Eleanore], afterward Main Core himself returned control back and dismantled the speaker in her throat.

“[Current mission achieved, created the illusion of segmentation within the mental psyche and created the illusion of a separation of memories. Fulfilling all the stated requirements for mental state referred to as plurality by Human Designation: Eleanore. Suggestion: Don’t speak about this conversation Main Core had with Human Designation: Eleanore.]”

Was the prompt she got from Main Core, the cheeky thing was acting all high and mighty…but Alexa could see what it referred to. The previous time [Eleanore] had acted as if she hadn’t seen or heard her conversation with Main Core too.

“So?” Alexa asked while turning to [Elenore] as the woman walked towards the chair she had kicked, “You believe me that I can deal with this work?”

[Eleanore] turned to look at her and turned her body away from her, she fiddled with something in her necklace and when she turned to look at her again, she was wearing her [Mask].

“Yeah, your system mate explained to me how you have been dealing with that. And Vulcanus is of the opinion that you are important enough to be needed.” [Eleanore]’s voice seemed…. different, she could [Feel] somewhat different in her voice.

“[Warning, voice of Human Designation: Eleanore is being simulated.]”

Interesting, so that was what [Stella] had been speaking of, the [Masks] could emulate their voice and normalize it. But why did [Eleanore] need that?

“The moment you need a break…that you need a vacation or a place to stay…my home is open for you. No matter the form you take, be it this, the previous, the little girl…or…” [Eleanore] took a second and added, “Your true form.”

So, did this mean that [Eleanore] would want her in her more glorious form? Actually…what was even her [True Form]?

“[Inconclusive….]” Not even Main Core knew?

“I will take it into consideration.” Was all Alexa could say back to the other [Woman].

“One last thing.” [Eleanore] said walking towards her, “I need you to stand and extend your arms to the sides.”

So, Alexa did as told, was this also part of the [Induction]?

“Okay, now do as I do.” [Eleanore] said and in one step she moved towards her, extending her arms over to her back and pressing her towards her body. “Move your arms like I did and rest your head on my shoulder.”

[Eleanore] said, so Alexa did as instructed.

It was…[Nice].

—-----------------------------------------------------

She had ended up spending more time than she had thought in that [Hug], and afterward, Alexa had donned her [Mask] too, not because she needed the function to distort her voice, one of the advantages of having nanites in her body that answered to her call to [Shift] her body as needed was that she could fix her appearance as needed.

No, apparently even if she could change her face as needed, she still needed to pretend to hide her identity. Something about unwritten rules among [Villains] and [Superheroes].

It was okay to not do it in the base if she was willing to sign to the life of a [Villain], especially if she ended up joining the ranks of [SuperVillians], but [Eleanore] would not let her sign whatever she needed to join those ranks just yet. Something about experiencing the life first before committing.

So instead, she would work as a [Minion] to [Learn the ropes] first. Why did she needed to learn about [Ropes] was beyond her understanding, probably some other [Social Cues] that she hadn’t gotten yet.

“Everything okay kiddo?” [Billy] asked her when she turned around.

“How do you know it’s me? The mask and bodysuit make me look like the rest.” Alexa asked, and while her figure was better proportioned than the others around, there were still some [Women] walking around, even if most had some extra clothing above their [BodySuit].

She herself was using a jacket that [Eleanore] gave her, something about the [Bodysuit] not leaving anything to imagination or something. [Eleanore] was too worried about the [Social Cues].

“You are the only woman from whom I got all the vital signs, so I know where you are.” [Billy] answered, getting a glare from [Eleanore] for some reason. “Not that they mean anything, the girl has average Vital Signs across the table.”

And [Billy] said while showing an [Square-shaped] entity with all kinds of information, Alexa could confirm that the metrics indeed matched her current vital average measures. She found it quite interesting that her body seemed to work better with a low blood pressure, if she was getting the information right from the [Blueprint]. This body was supposed to operate with a blood pressure of around 120/80. But she was working with 90/60.

“...You are a creep sometimes Billy. You know that right?” [Eleanore] said in a tired voice, “Just turn them off when Rhapsody isn’t working okay?”

“What if she is in danger out of work hours?” [Billy] asked back aghast, “You aren’t the only one that worries for the kiddo.”

“...Rhapsody? Do you mind if Billy keeps tracking your vitals?” [Eleanore] asked turning to her, “You said that this…Form understands more, right? Doesn’t it feel weird that he has information about you all the time?”

Should it feel weird? [Main Core]?

“[...inconclusive. Humans seem to be against sharing information, this information isn’t vital to host survival. No problems with sharing it.]”

“It’s fine, besides if I need to stop the sharing of information, I can just take it off or destroy it,” Alexa said back.

This had quite the interesting result, [Eleanore] laughed at her answer, while [Billy] just looked with an expression that she had only seen once before, it was the same expression the [Human] had shown to her before she [Ate] him.

“[Expression categorized: Horror.]”

Yeah, [Billy] looked horrified at that answer.

“True, looking it like that, your Core Power does allow you to destroy it quite easily, right?” [Eleanore] said while laughing, “You have my permission, if you ever want privacy and can’t take it off quick enough, destroy it.”

“.... please don’t destroy it.” [Billy] said at the side in a small tone.

“I will try to prioritize the survival of the [BodySuit],” Alexa said, this made them once more stop talking. What was the deal with these [Humans]!?!?!?

“...Don’t get me wrong, you are more important Rhapsody. I make these to make sure you whiteheads can return home. If the question of survival is between you or the suit. Ditch the suit.” [Billy] said in a serious tone, that she would indeed prioritize her survival. Why was this being said aloud?

“...Okay. I will prioritize myself, then the [BodySuit].” Alexa said, only to get another sigh again. WHAT WAS THEIR DEAL?!?

“First yourself, then your fellow black mask minions, then your fellow white mask minions, then your mission. Then your Haephestus’s provided tools. So, the last priority will be your BodySuit.” [Eleanore] said bringing one Square-shaped entity and writing something on it. “That reminds me…. I will send your new mission to your mask.”

“Shouldn’t the [White Mask] be above? They are [Fellow White Masks]” Alexa asked as new information was sent to one corner of her mask.

“Nah, white masks are sturdy…Actually, add Sylph above other white Maks. If there is a squishy white mask, we will tell you.” [Billy] said with a dismissal tone. “And speaking of, here catch.”

And in one fast motion [Billy] threw a square-shaped entity her way. Alexa caught it with care and looked at it, it was…

“That’s your new Cellphone, your other one…well, Vulcanus broke it.” [Billy] said while Alexa checked the [Menus] of it, it had some information already, including the same database she had already downloaded, and some [Contacts] saved on it. “The numbers of Eleanore, mine, and your teammates are already saved. Also, it has a bank account set up to your name using our contacts, get Eleanore to give you your new card later. We will set it up with that appearance, so if you need to go to the bank you will need to use it.”

It also had a [Mail] with the same information she had already read about her new [Test], or how [Eleanore] referred to, [Mission].

“And what about the weird message I got before?” Alexa asked that was the most important part.

“Oh, the alarm against tampering? Yeah, we don’t have it, since we repair most of the tech used by minions it would be a hassle to turn it off each time. So long you don’t let someone outside Haephestus’s Forge to work on it you will be fine. Just don’t try to change the carrier.” [Billy] smiled at her while answering.

“I will make sure to not let anyone else tamper with it,” Alexa said smiling back at [Billy], all the while flooding the thing with her [Nanites]. It was time for her to see what she could find about this [Tech]. She had already made sure this [Square-shaped entity] wasn’t sapient, or that this type wasn’t sapient. So, she would find out more about what she could do with these things….