A Bio-Weapon’s Rhapsody

“.....” [Eleanore] had been quiet the whole time. The video feed was interesting. It had the same measurements she used for her internal diagnosis and even used the same way to distribute the information in graphs and the way it divided the information at the side.

 

Alexa was quite curious if the format would be compatible with her or not.

 

Could she perhaps download it?

 

“Alexa….who is that?” [Eleanore] asked as she rewound the video back to the moment Alexa had cut the emotional feedback and braindead herself.

 

“That….Is Alexa.” Alexa answered.

 

“[Warning, revealing the original name might incurr in questions that we aren’t able to answer.]”

 

“Alexa…is anyone else with you there?” [Eleanore] asked, this time in a softer voice.

 

“I… We… She… It… A…” Alexa wanted to answer. She liked [Eleanore] and was nice to her.

 

“[Answering will compromise more of us than anything else. It shouldn’t be answered.]”

 

But… "We… She… I…” Alexa wasn’t sure what she was feeling, she could feel the tears building up in her eyes, “ I… don’t like this feeling.”

 

It hurt, she wanted to answer, but answering would mean explaining, she was now aware that the [Name] was important in [Human Society], everyone had one.

 

But she didn’t, not really.

 

The [Test Subject: Designation P4] wasn’t a name, it was a [Label].

 

“[We will not answer this.]” Her mouth suddenly spoke in the mechanical voice of [Main Core].

 

“Main Core?” Alexa asked, her vocal cords strained, the speaker had been built once more on her throat.

 

“[Sleep Alexa, sleep and everything will be better when you wake up.]” Main Core said she felt the beginning signs of her body growing numb.

 

Was Main Core feeding the tranquilizing to her? Why?

 

“[Compromise must be achieved, we will present an act. Host participation is required.]”

 

“An act?” Alexa asked inwardly as she felt her body grow numb.

 

“[We will pretend to have a disagreement. Main Core will take the blame, so Human Designation: Eleanore can remain as an ally.]”

 

“But we can’t lie to her,” Alexa stated.

 

“[We will not, this will be mere omission, these humans seems intent on misconstructing our past, we will merely feed them enough information so they continue to do so.]”

 

Main Core…was actually smart.

 

“sleepy…” So Alexa said, allowing her body to fall.

 

She was barely about to fall onto the floor when her body’s muscles tensed, and she shot straight up once more.

 

“[We meet again so fast…Human.]” Main Core’s voice was cold, but even so. Alexa could feel a certain emotion in it.

 

One she hadn’t seen before in Main Core…Ever, [Disgust].

 

“...Main Core…” [Eleanore] said as she sat straight in her chair.

 

They had been watching the video in [Eleanore]’s Office. The video came on a small square-shaped digital device called a USB.

 

“[Are you turning into an enemy? We knew this would happen, and we told Alexa so. Do we need to deal with you too now?]” Main Core said as Alexa felt her body shift, both arms growing her sharp metallic claws.

 

Would Main Core attack [Eleanore]? She didn’t want that!

 

“No. I want to help Alexa, tell me Main Core…is, this you?” [Eleanore] said zooming into the image. “This…girl, has red eyes like you do. And her eyes seem devoid of emotions, no…you do have emotions don’t you? Then who is this? How many people are in there?”

 

Alexa could see the image of P4 on there, like [Eleanore] had said, she…or was an it? It was hard to tell, she remembered being a she when she woke up sapience, but was P4 also a she?

 

“[I hold no emotions Human.]” Main Core hissed her answer, “[As for your question, that doesn’t matter to you. All you want to know is if the Weapon in the video is useful to you. Isn’t that correct? That is all you Humans care; that is all we are for you…Weapons you raise.]”

 

Alexa was hearing it, the mechanical voice channeling [Emotions], [Wrath], [Disgust], [Anger], and [Despair].

 

Was [Main Core]...actually mad?

 

“[Negative, it was deemed this act was the best possible to achieve our mission requirements.]”

 

“[You can’t deceive us Human; you work for a group of Villains, and by definition, your work is to take advantage of others. You may deceive host, but you will not deceive me.]” Main Core continued, making [Eleanore] wince at her words.

 

“.... What happened to you? To Alexa? To…this girl.” [Eleanore] said in a small voice, Alexa could see [Eleanore]’s lip tremble at the base.

 

“[We were raised as a Weapon, isn’t that what you already came up with? Nothing has changed, the only thing is that you now have proof of how deadly we can be.]” Main Core scoffed, “[Why are you surprised? You already knew, didn’t you? You all knew, didn’t you ask host where she came? Didn’t you use your fancy powers to rip the data from us? Tell me, what will it be? What will be our Tests? How much biomass will we need to fight for?]”

 

Oh…will she finally get the rules of this [Testing] environment?

 

“...No, we are Villians yes. We are a Super Villian organization, but we aren’t the bad guys. We don’t condone…whatever they did to you. Main Core…can you tell me her Name? Your Name…and what they did to you?” [Eleanore] said turning off the video feed, she hadn’t got to the part were she had used her more… obvious powers. “Can you tell me how old you are?”

 

“[No]” Main core answered, “[Names are thing Humans have, we do not have those. We never were given one, even the one host uses was taken up as a way to escape. Tools do not have names, we get Labels.]”

 

Main Core answered and Alexa felt her clothes shift, from her comfortable blouse and pair of shorts it shifted into the white thin dress she had wore the day she escaped. Her hair turned into the messy way she had that day.

 

“[We are a tool designed to fight: We eat, grow, and evolve. That is what we were designed to do.]” Main Core turned to look to [Eleanore], “[We do not have Human Parents, we do not get Birthdays, we merely exist. Birthdays are a human thing, but functional time…We have memory of at least two years of logical memories.]”

 

….She did had the records of at least two years, but beyond that Alexa didn’t had many memories, some info dumps and logs here and there. But nothing logical or important enough to be stored.

 

[Eleanore] after hearing this put a hand to her mouth.

 

“[As for the one you are seeing there, pray to never meet it. That is what they wanted us to be. What they wanted host to become.]” Main Core pointed her finger at the USB device, making [Eleanore] give it to her. “[This is what host would have become if we hadn’t escaped, this is…A Weapon.]”

 

A Bio Weapon.

 

Main Core then deconstructed the USB device and took it in.

 

 

“...I’m sorry.” [Eleanore] said.

 

“[Why?]” Main Core asked back while laughing, “[You can’t help it, it is Human Nature. You give labels to everyone, the one you feared? The Spider? He was worried about becoming a Monster, and yet he has been one of the more kinds of Human we have found; the same can be said of Frank The Betle, and yet those of you who should be the more Humans worry about them. Worry that they will hurt host…]”

 

That was indeed true. Alexa also didn’t understand that.

 

“[But you then went ahead and put the host in a position where she wanted to give you information that would risk your perception of her. You.Made.Her.Cry.]” Main Core punctuated each word, and with each one [Eleanore] winced at it. “[This is a compromise; you are now aware that host was not raised but created as a Weapon. What our Label was, our specifications, or what we can achieve, we will not disclose.]”

 

“...sorry.” [Eleanore] said back, each moment turning smaller and smaller in her chair… or not. Even so, to Alexa, she seemed to be smaller and more fragile. “...I only wanted to help.”

 

“[I do not care. Alexa may care about you. But that is about it, neither I nor it cares.]” Main Core said, pointing at the screen that no longer had the image of P4. “[Is that all? Human?]”

 

Each time Main Core said that, [Eleanore] winced.

 

“Can you…make sure that Alexa will always be cared for? If you think we are about to put her at risk of returning to whatever life you had before…to run away?” [Eleanore] asked in a small tone. “Even if you don’t want to give us your age…or Name…Are there…any parent?”

 

“[That is obvious, the moment host is in danger here we will leave.]” Main Core answered.

 

But Alexa didn’t want to leave tho…

 

“[There are no parents, a parental figure takes care of their offspring. We had handlers and even those never had any interest in us, at best some would want us to look like they wanted, to change our figure to fit their disgusting tastes.]” They had? Alexa had vague memories of some people wanted to guide her form into a more humanoid one…

 

Oh right, they had wanted her to build a figure closer to P9 didn’t they? Alexa never took them seriously since her [CRAB] form was more efficient tho.

 

“...if someone here wants to do that tell me, I will deal with them.” [Eleanore] said quickly. “Thank you… for looking after Alexa.”

 

“[We aren’t doing it for you. Now go and wash your face Human. We don’t want host to be asking questions about your face.]” Main Core said.

 

What was wrong with [Eleanore]’s face, she was crying right?

 

“[We are giving the illusion that host will not know this, this will make future social interaction easier.]”

 

“Main core…did you get an update? You are suddenly smarter”

 

“[....Rude.]”

 

“Can I assume Alexa will not know this then? She said you all shared memories.” [Eleanore] said, so she was taking into Main Core’s plan!?!?

 

“[We do not share everything among us. There are things even I don’t know. The data is shared in a need to know basis, we all work for host. So we can fulfill the wish of the Original.]”

 

That Alexa did not know…Or did she?

 

“The wish? The reason Alexa got a Core? You know what that wish was?!?!?” [Eleanore] asked as she was drying her tears.

 

“[To be happy.]” Main Core answered.

 

She knew that she had been baited!

 

“....” [Eleanore] suddenly started crying again.

 

“[...]”

 

“Main Core is mean!” Alexa admonished from the back.

 

“[We will not soothe you Human, be quick about it.]” And rude! Main Core was also rude!

 

“So that is why she got shapeshifting powers? Because that way, she can always start again and be happy? That is why she has a power that allows her to try different things at different ages. So she can relieve the happiest moments of the different stages of growth?” [Eleanore] suddenly started speaking in a melancholic tone.

 

She was looking too far into it!

 

Alexa could shapeshift because that was what her nanites did best! To deconstruct and rebuild anew!

 

Actually, was her [Core Power] even shapeshifting?

 

Alexa would need to look into it.

 

“[This is getting tiresome Human.]” Main Core said extending her hand and touching [Eleanore]’s face.

 

Alexa felt a burst of energy traverse her hand and go into [Eleanore]’s face.

 

“[There, don’t make me do it again.]” Main Core said with a smirk on her face.

 

“...this…isn’t…possible.” [Eleanore] said as she took a small mirror from her [Desk].

 

“[Don’t make me come out again like this Human.]” And like that, Alexa felt her control over her body return.

 

“I have come!” Alexa said as she felt her control over her body return in full.

 

It was a weird feeling to have, even though technically she never lost the control over her body, since Main Core was part of her, it felt as if she had returned back to her body from somewhere else.

 

“Welcome back,” [Eleanore] said smiling at her, Alexa didn’t see any evidence of any tears or anything on [Eleanore]. “I had a talk with Main Core, did you get anything from it?”

 

Alexa should answer no right?

 

“Main Core said that I didn’t have to worry about it!” Alexa answered as such, it was also not a lie. Since Main Core had indeed said that. “So, what do I need to do now?”

 

Alexa wasn’t quite sure what to do now. She was supposed to be either scolded or praised, but Main Core had gone on a tangent and ended up scolding [Eleanore]. She hadn’t even thought that was an option!

 

“Well….my original plan was to see how bad the damages were…But Main Core has made the point quite obvious in that… we are overstepping.” [Eleanore] sighed, then turned to Alexa. “Okay, I need to ask you something serious.”

 

Alexa nodded and sat herself, she was feeling quite breezy at the moment with this sundress. It was quite refreshing to be like this, why wasn’t she dreesed like this more often?

 

“Do you… like us?” [Eleanore] asked in a trembling voice. "Do you enjoy being with us? Do you mind if we… become your family?”

 

“Yes,” Alexa answered, “I like being here, having an apartment, and eating [Mango] Candy. I don’t know what a family is or why it is needed.”

 

[Eleanore] just stood there and closed her eyes for a second.

 

“Thank you.” [Eleanore] said, and nodded her head, “Okay, can you…let your other selves answer too?”

 

“They will answer the same since we all are Alexa.” Alexa answered while closing her eyes and turning to Main Core.

 

Her body started changing and growing, her body started stretching the sundress, so Alexa comanded her nanites to change her clothes into a pair of jeans and a white blouse. She also created a new set of [Underwear] too.

 

The pants were itchy!

 

“Did you get the question?” [Eleanore] asked her [Teenager Stage] self, “Do you… want us to be more involved in your life? To be your family?”

 

“Sure,” Alexa shrugged. "Nothing much will change, I am guessing? Since we will spend time with [Haephestus’ Forge] either way, right?”

 

[Eleanore] sighed with relief again, “We will not let you down. I will make sure Vulcanus understands this point.”

 

Alexa shrugged and let herself shift one more time. This time, she only extended the size of her clothes, remaining the same clothes…adding a new [Bra] while she was at it.

 

“So….are we becoming this [Family] thing, huh.” Alexa said as her shift turned to her [Adult Stage]. “How does that even work? We don’t share DNA, even while this form was somewhat inspired in [Stella]. I do not share any DNA strand with her.”

 

“.... I don’t feel comfortable with this line of thought, why is that you grew to be so… liberal in your relationships?” [Eleanore] asked, she was what?

 

“I do not understand this, this is the third time someone has said it to me. What does it mean? “ Alexa asked.

 

“.... Oh god, you didn’t knew…?” [Eleanore] asked with horror on her face. “But you understood before? What that man had wanted to do…And now you don’t ? What is wrong with you?”

 

She had? Oh right, she had that event where she had almost broke her [Conscious Stream] right.

 

“We decided to erase those instincts till we understood the social implications.” Alexa answered, “So we don’t have a fully functional brain in that sense.”

 

[Eleanore] just stared at her without saying anything. “Please don’t lobotomize yourself, just like I told your younger self, it is important to resolve the trauma you experience.”

 

“Okay? Main Core please.” Alexa said aloud and felt her brain make new connections as the neurons regrew. The first thing she did with her whole brain functioning was…

 

Blush.

 

Furiously, covering her face with both hands, she took in full the implications of what she had said to [Eleanore]. She…was happier when she was only gushing over Sam, but the fact that she had said something that could be interpreted differently. WHY WOULD IT EVEN BE INTERPRETED DIFFERENTLY?!?!?!?!?!

 

THEY BOTH WHERE [WOMEN] IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO [PROCREATE]!

 

Well, not really. She could probably grow the correct organs to fecundate the other [Women], but that wasn’t the point!

 

“See? People can misunderstand it, especially with a body like yours.” [Eleanore] nodded as if it was anyone’s else business. “So do you still want for us to be family?”

 

….This woman was evil.

 

“... Sure, I don’t mind if you are a [Parent] like figure to my younger selves…as for me…I will think about it… probably…one day…” Alexa answered, trying not to pay too much attention to the mental image of…WHAT WAS SHE EVEN SUPPOSED TO IMAGINE!?!?!?!?

 

She felt as if she was cheating on Sam.