A Displaced Samurai

Friday, November 27th, 2048

Early in the morning, we took off for Victoria after starting print jobs for two of the cyberbrains. Those would eventually be waiting for us at Styx Base. We took the head of the new Arina back with us, body printing could happen at the shelter.

The first thing we did was pack up and hand over the Shiv delivery to HANAF. After that, I had no more excuse to avoid a difficult meeting with Arina. Starting the following week, she would be in basic military training without weekend leave, and I wanted to discuss the future of the other Arina before.

As I arrived, Arina greeted me with a hug and exclaimed “You know, starting next week I start basic at HANAF and won’t be able to see you for a few weeks. Let’s go out now and grab some little snacks now that I can!”

“Yes, let’s go!”

At a nearby little market run by second generation Turkish immigrants, we got some freshly baked borek and baklava. Small portions of each, both because real food was fucking expensive and because Arina could not eat more than little morsels anyway.

We moved to one of the tiny spots of greenery that still existed in overcrowded Victoria, and sat together on a park bench while nibbling our food. Eventually Arina noticed “You have something on your mind that bothers you. Mind telling me?”

“It’s a somewhat difficult topic. Remember how we talked about backups?”

“Please don’t bring that up again, I’m an individual and not some doll to make in series.”

“I promise that I won’t. Unfortunately, the Macks don’t have such reservations. The Mack MG we defeated and captured ten days ago…”

“Is that another version… of me?” Arina seemed to dread the answer. I answered “yes” and hugged her tightly. It took a long time for Arina to regain her composure. Then she asked in a small voice “What now?”

“We will try to get her the same help you received. SHOCKS may be willing to spring for psychological therapy again. I’m not sure if it would help if you get involved there, maybe we should talk to your old therapists.

“I will of course build a new body for her. Now that we have all the blueprints, it is only a matter of time and raw materials.”

“Thanks for helping my, uh, future twin sister? That sounds so wrong. But thanks anyway.”

Want to help set up the printing process? As a first act of sisterly support?”

Arina elbowed me in the ribs “Very funny.”

But back at the shelter, she did indeed talk the design through with me. “I like the proportions of my body and I’m happy to share those, but in the shoes of the other me I would like a slightly different face. Being an individual, not a copy!”

“I get it, and yes, we can do that. If we move the cheekbones around like this and change the color of the eyes…”

We soon had the blueprint of a young woman who might be a sister to Arina, quite similar but not a copy.

I said “That looks pretty good to me. We can start the printing now, print time is about two days. The snack system is already integrated by the way.”

Sunday, November 29th, 2048

Arina, Wendy and I had met at the shelter to assemble Arina’s new sister. While we put the torso and limbs together, I explained the technical details so the girls might be able to repair each other in a pinch.

At that point I realized that I was the weakest point in any such scheme. While Arina and Wendy had access to the fabricators and most blueprints, it was not the full set of what I had earned so far.

So between lecturing on mechanical body parts and power supplies I asked Elya

“I’d like to give the girls full access to my blueprints and the digital textbooks, in case I bite the bullet somehow. Obviously that needs to include offline storage and a way for them to access the data without me. What kind of hardware do you recommend for that?”

In Class I Computation Devices, you have access to the ModularWorkstation Mk I. It is a miniature hardware rack in which you can install a wide range of electronic devices, including storage devices like the DataSilo. The heart of the system is the equivalent of a high-end personal computer, through which you access and control the other parts. Blueprint price is 500 points.

I quizzed Elya a bit more about the functionality, then I decided “Yes, I’ll buy the thing.”

Thank you for shopping at Elya Electronics. Your new balance is 1324 points.

This detail handled, I returned to building New Sister. We installed the Mack cyberbrain in the new body and activated it. When she opened her eyes and saw Arina, she was even more confused than the last time we had switched her on. Her eyes flicked between me, Wendy and finally settled on Arina. With a weak smile she said “Hey, Why are you wearing my face? …my FACE? What the fuck is going on here?”

I cleared my throat. “Unfortunately, the Macks have zero respect for individuality. It appears they like you so much that they made more than one of you.”

Wendy elbowed me in the ribs. “And you could be a bit more sensitive in delivering such news.”

“Ow!”

“It seems B.S.O.D. is right when she says you have the sensitivity of a bulldozer!”

Both Arinas seemed to find that amusing. The newly reassembled one managed a weak smile, while my friend and lover giggled “Bulldozer Caitlin, as usual!”

Over the next hour New Arina practiced using her new body, and towards the end she was moving quite fluidly. But the question of identities still hung over the room like a dark cloud.

Eventually I took the initiative and gently poked at the name issue. “It gets a little old to address you with names like “New Arina” and “Old Arina.” Is there something else you would prefer?”

“Old???” came from the first Arina. But her new sister replied ”She has a point. Also, remember how Mom told us how she and Dad could not agree on a name? Mom won with “Arina”, but Dad wanted a Katya. I guess I’ll be Katya from now on.”

Elya’s voice came over the Hi-fi system in the room.

That is remarkably mature of you

“Hush, you!” To the others I said “I apologize for the behavior of my AI companion. Sometimes Elya is way too snarky.”

That finally broke the ice and led to a far more relaxed discussion, and finally a group hug. Secretly, I was relieved that Katya did not fixate on me as much as Arina had. Jealousy drama was something I could do without.