#sisteryuri

[corpsmaid]

it matters that the maid is also your loser big sister

[corpsmaid]

They were just like getting tattoos. Thats what the lab tech had told her the first time, standing beside her, calibrating something on her handscreen. She couldn’t move, strapped into an upright position while virtual donut suns glowered down at her.

The first one hurt, it hurt so much she thought she was giving birth to a god from her head. Like in the stories Ms. Hasyn had told her when she was first alive. She was out of commission for weeks after that, it felt so miserable the way they looked at her. Staring, expectantly – no, disappointingly – at her. They talked among themselves, in words she cant remember, like she had failed some sort of test. Sometimes she could imagine a weight on her chest, pressing down the longer they lingered. Threatening to flatten her into a piece of paper on a clipboard. But then there were eons where the left and she could have imagined they had never existed at all. Everyone but Amelia, and sometimes Ms. Hasyn. Her sister would lay by her and the Doctor would read her stories. It was them that healed her. Anything less than their presence would have rendered her derelict among the storm that had brewed around her.

Afterwards it was easy. Everything was. They would test her, and always say things about how well she was taking it or how good she was at solving their little problems. New cybernetics came after periods of testing, her eye, her brain. her heels, her brain again. her arm. She took a moment to glance down at it and tentatively flex its – her – fingers. There was a slight tension, and she could imagine a rubber band pulling between her fingers and her elbow, but it still didn’t feel real all the time. Most of the time. More now than ever. But not all the time.

The door behind her slid open like a shadow. She didn’t need to look up to know a doctor had walked in. She could hear it in the way their boots clicked against the glossy floor tile – followed by another heavier gait. Her head raised up a measure and she turned slightly. It was the Doctor of course, a younger fellow whos name she always forgets, followed by the Captain of the local command.

She, was more impressive to her than any of the Doctors ever had been. Her first interaction with her was when she was still a girl. They had met before of course, but it was the first time the two had really seen each other, and it had left her speechless. The woman had been standing across from her, a corporate aid hiding in her shadow, back straight as a steel beam and an expression seemingly wrought out of stone. Her whole body was wrapped in a black military uniform that made her as obsidian, gleaming as it did in the artificial life.

She remembers the way she talked to the two that had struggled to bring her in, and watched them sway under the relentless offense of her words. Bending their stone faces in a way she didn’t think possible before. She doesn’t recall what they talked about, it was too far away now, but it was something of great importance she thinks. She remembers how she didn’t flinch when she reached up with a black glove and gripped her jaw, turning her back and forth. And most importantly, she remembered with pride how she remained steady when she showed her the barrel of her weapon. There was no panic, like she heard from the other two as the scrambled to find some sort of safety. There wasnt anger either, like when she had been hit by the soldiers before. Really there was nothing at all. She cant remember what she was feeling then, crowded as her heart was now with glowing pride at the memory, But she remembers her eyes, boring into her soul, more than the gun. She couldn’t look away from them, the thought didn’t even occur to her at the time. This inspection seemed to end forever, ending only as the hard metal of the gun cracked across her face. This too was part of it, she muses to herself as she chews on the memory. It was the end of it, the tether of reality pulling taut against her floating soul.

There were other inspections, but she thinks this was the moment she proved herself to the Captain. Ever since she has only spoken praises of her, but it is hard not to feel like she has been pulled into the vacuum of space whenever they are in the same room.

“So,” the doctor began in a nasally tone. “It has proven itself beyond all projected measures thus far. They glanced at her before continuing. “And has yielded us tremendous data.” The doctor shuffled a little under the desk, settling the papers for a moment.

“You are being trepidatious Sam.” His eyes flicked up to meet hers and suddenly he was too small for his coat. It rose around him like water and she could see the thought of floundering cross his expression, yet he seemed frozen in place like prey staring down the barrel. She was smiling on the inside of her teeth. A fiendish smile it must be, she thought, yet one she could only just stop from baring to the world. It was a small joy to see these petty creatures put in their place.

“Well,” he started, before slipping on his own thoughts. A moment of scrambling for a hold passing before he continued, “well you see Captain, there has been a recent discovery that appears to have” a pause “complicated further proceedings.” He stepped through his sentence like it was a minefield, yet seemed satisfied with his current footing – yet he appeared no less small than before.

“I know,” her voice was calm and steady, expectant of this result. “I read the report this morning.” she sighed, then turned her head only slightly so that the glint of her eyes pinned the poor Esme down in her chair like the threat of sniper fire. “It is a shame, her children would have done great things for the Union.” The first thrust had been had. she resolved to herself not to squirm under pressure, but felt that common weight lay upon her. There was suddenly no strength in her to meet those eyes, and yet she could not turn away to hide from them either. It would be weakness to show she had noticed the words, worse still to reveal they had found their mark in her. Instead she feinted ignorance and stared ahead of her, watching in her periphery as the doctor became alert for a moment at the remark, only to quickly become surmounted and slide down his chair somewhat, one arm propped on the desk. “Of course, well our bosses wont be very happy to hear this. Half of their potential here is wasted.” he paused for a moment to look at the shelves full of books lining the wall before adding wistfully “Im sure they’ll shut us down once they realize.”

“I wouldnt say wasted. Cu2 is ripe to be the most valuable asset coming out of this operation so far.” Esme eagerly shoved the words down her gullet before the lady could continue, setting aside the edges meant to cut at the doctors throat, and could feel them radiating throughout her core like warm soup. The Captain had less praise to give than the testers and the doctors, and it always came at times like this, but that made them all the more sweeter to chew on when they did come.

“And what about the other one?” Her elation suddenly lost a tail wing and she felt herself dropping altitude. Again, it always came like this. The other shoe she had heard it called.

“She is…” the doctor hurried to shuffle through his papers, rummaging until he found another suitable packet. “Well like I said its only a half loss. She is much more promising, at least in that regard. All tests have come back positive and we even have a trial running as we speak.” His voice turns sour” It just her pyschological eval-” “That wont matter in the end” she said coldly, staring down the Doctor like he was some type of bug. They didn’t have bugs on the station, but she heard the way they talked about them, so she imagined they were not pleasant things to be around. Once there was a scare that a certain vermin had come, infesting the recent batch of teamsters, and the whole place had to be cleaned from top to bottom.

She would have thought of him as a bug too, she thinks. But then she also sometimes wondered, painfully, if she too was a bug waiting to be cleaned out.

Certainly felt that way with how she recoiled whenever they mentioned Amelia. They talked about her like she was a thing, something to be used, but they didn’t understand. They couldn’t understand that Amelia was more than that. It had been like this forever. if she had felt awful during that time, after the first implant, she could only imagine the breadth of her sisters suffering. And the strength of her spirit too, to bear those looks and those words since her creation. She was never enough for them and it stoked something deep inside her when they talked about her like this.

And maybe foremost, she was a bug for how she let them. It used to make sense, to fight back when they approached her with scalpels wrapped in supposed good intentions. She cant forget the look on their faces when their soft flesh met her clenched fists. Nor the first gifts the marines had given her, a broken nose with a matching set of scars and bruises. That never dissuaded her. Only Ms. Doctor had managed that. She had cried afterwards, which the doctor said was okay, and they laid in the bed for a long time. Only then did she start to become something else, something that attracted the respect of the others. Something important.

A part of her resents the change, and it screams inside her at moments like this. She can feel it tearing at her flesh and organs, begging her to stand even now. When the others reduce her sister to her subsequent parts like some of them do with their plates of food in the mess, it makes her weaker than any praise the Captain could deliver. And yet, she would never have been so ingratiated with the Captain as she is now to know that difference if she had continued. Why did living have to come with such terrible choices she thought to herself.

The Doctor suddenly stood, knocking her into reality again, and shook the Captains hands as the two passed formal pleasantries between themselves. Once they were done the Captain addressed her directly, though in that detached tone she always managed. “Esme, report back to doctor Hasyn for the moment, and await further orders.” The woman didn’t turn far enough for her to see her expression, but the man watched her closely for a moment before she turned about face, clicked her heels and walked out of the room. The man simply sighed, gathered his papers, and walked out behind her without giving even a glance towards where she sat against the wall.

She lingered in the office for a moment longer once they were gone, feeling the air fill her lungs again now that she remembered how to breath. She flexed her fingers absentmindedly for a while, focusing on how the tension felt. After enough moments had passed she too resigned to leave, rising and glancing around the room before walking out the door.

[corpsmaid]

She remembered everything, and the memories weighed on her like air. It was unfortunate, that her recollection was not ephemeral like her mother, or her friends. Mother always told her she was young, but like a grub, and now since she had become a mother she was younger still. Looking out her window the WMBc’s bones stretched out before her, clawing at the open expanse of space beyond. She could see the false stars of the soldering tools, blinking. They were building it for her, she thinks. Thats what Iris said after all. Its hers, for her to bring forth a lineage of her own. Her very own children. The thought made her smile.

The sound of the door cut through her like a knife.

Esme, she saw, sauntered into the room casually – placing something on a desk before glancing her way. She was tall, with hair short in the military style, and built to match. Her robotic arm hung slack against her side while she lit a cigarette hanging from her mouth.

“don’t do that, theyll get mad” she protested from her position on the bed, knees to her chest. The other girl simply snorted and took another hit, fiddling with a piece of paper on the desk. It had been folded in thirds, and there were some stamps on it. Ameila could see Esme thumbing the corner for a moment before turning and leaning against the desk, hiding it from view.

“they wont get mad at *you* sis” her words were jeering but lightly. Amelia hated when Esme treated her like a kid. They were the same age, down to the day. The others did it too, thats maybe what twisted the blade in her heart. Just cause she wasnt strong like her. She glared at her for a moment, before relenting – eyes falling to rest on the covers.

“I don’t want them to get mad at you either Esme.”

The other girl leaned back, and looked at the ceiling for a moment to say “I wont get in trouble! They love me down there.” Her eyes dropped back into place, just in time for a toothy smile to meet them. Then she took another hit of her cigarette. She never changed, Amelia thinks wistfully, the several scars on her sister’s face and body reminding her of that brazen confidence and its consequences.

“Promise” she finally said, looking up again to meet those burning orange eyes.

“Of course!” Esme said, too quickly, flicking her cigarette into a trashcan nearby before rocking off the desk onto her feet. Amelia watched the smoke dissipate into stillness for a moment before glancing back to her sister. A Potemkin answer, and they both knew it. Maybe she realized it, remembered she knew herself it fake, cause suddenly she turned and grabbed the paper that had been hanging on her mind.

“Look here” she started, animated by some otherworldy power it seemed, “theyre letting me join the marines down there, something about probational training exercises!” she thrust the paper towards a nonenthused Amelia. “I know, I know, it sounds like bullshit but I think it would be good for me-” she catches, “good for us!” The paper is unceremoniously thrust towards her in a way that makes her re-actively lurch back, like it would cut her.

It was pretty run of the mill bureaucratic lingo. Apparently, it had been discussed between the Takeda paramilitary corporation (TPMC) and the Broker & Sinder corp that allowing cooperation between the B&S GAIA division and the bases operational forces would be profitable for both sides, despite any reservations held by local command. Child Unit 2, as they called her sister, would be deployed for training programme after the prerequisite augmentations had been successfully applied.

Augmentations? She looked at her sister, who was standing there expectantly. She gave Amelia a look that seemed to beg the question. Instead, the smaller girl answered simply with another one.

“How did you get this?” Her flat tone scrawled into the others girls skin, and she could see her bluster for a moment before putting her hands in her pockets and turning sideways. Of course, it wasnt hers to have. She must have snatched it when no one was looking. Doesnt she know this will only bring trouble to them both. Talk about keeping her out of it.

“Its not for you is it?”

“It is!” she started, turning heel with a storm on her face. But it passed quickly and she stepped back again. “Look my name is right there, of course its mine!” “thats not your name” Amelia retorted shortly, taken aback for a moment by the venom on her tongue.

“thats not your name Esme,” she repeated, quieter. She could feel footsteps closing in, then warm hands on her shoulder. They were so hot, she thought, against her cold shoulders. “I know” Her voice softly reminded her. Maybe she was more ephemeral than previously thought. There was no stopping her was there? It was a bitter thought to swallow. She’d have to chew on it first.

“Just be safe.” she said, resigning her will to fight. Her eyes met with the other girl’s, who leaned in to plant a kiss on her forehead. Then she released her, and leaned back with her usual relaxed demeanor. “What did I say Amy, the love me down there. Im gonna be something big, I can feel it. Captain said it himself you know?”

Something wailed inside her, but she wasnt sure what, and she just looked on placidly at that beautiful idiot.