Well, this is what happens when nothing is open in the City.

Enjoy the chapter... again.

I legit can't do anything but write right now >.<

and eat maybe.

A question though, am I introducing too many characters at once? Or is it managable?

K I had no Idea what to title my chapter so I just took something.

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My first reaction was to tilt my head. I was confused and after a short amount of silenced we started talking again.

"Karen? What do you mean by bred? I don't understand."

Shaking her head she closed her eyes.

"Nobody can understand. The Clan started out during the medieval times. Everything began with selective breeding, special traits where looked for in humans. High intelligence, stable brains, good bodies. Everything that could be useful and those men and women were forced to have children. With the progression of technology everything could be done far easier.

Our scientists started engaging in bio-engineering. Our entire Clan up to now had already been modified inside of the womb of their mothers."

She looks directly into my eyes before continuing.

"My sister was a prototype, made specifically for extremely high intelligence and I mean not by normal standards. In our society today someone with an IQ of over 140 will be called a genius and exceptionally skilled."

I knew as much, Zoe had been one of those gifted people, though I had not known the exact number.

She laughed once.

"We measured the IQ of my sister at the body age of 8. The number we received afterwards was at 248. Our superiors were delighted, she was a success in their eyes and they quickly went on to educate her. In the end nobody would have guessed what would happen to her. They had not accounted for... eventual difficulties. Sasha's body deteriorated at an incredible speed and the Clan head quickly marked her as useless. They took her DNA and created the next few samples. My sister was handed over to me with the words to take care of her and keep her in check."

This time it was clearly rage that she was emitting while she looked directly at me with a distorted face.

"Have you ever talked with somebody who has accepted his death? Who wouldn't accept that they could not survive without the constant help of medication? She lived inside of a weak body with the real age of 17. While her mental capacity had already surpassed anyone in this complex. She was such a nice girl but she knew too much.

In the end she couldn't take it anymore. The last time we talked was on top of this building. Convincing her to stay was futile. She instantly knew about all the lies we spouted to keep her alive, she had known from the age of 10 that she would die eventually and she wanted to go out on her own terms."

Karen was clearly in pain but I said nothing and kept quiet to not interrupt her.

"In the end she jumped. Today only Ignar truly knows her and her last words were directed at him."

She shook her head.

"Do you know what she said to him? She literary only thanked him and dropped off. The Clan does not have any familiar atmosphere. The useful are kept while the useless are showed to the side. Sasha was deemed useless and abandoned by them. I have personally seen my own sister drop into depression and there was nothing I could do. You cannot tell a smart person everything will be fine. They actually know it won't. It was saddening to watch and deep inside we already knew how it would end. Her body was burned and removed from any records. At that moment I had decided to create my own family and from that instant on I slowly formed A3 into what it is today. I am still obligated to report to the Clan every once in a while but I have no sentiments for any of them.

Also I must tell you that, should you be asked you only know about the military influence of the Ithild family. The existence of the Clan is secret. This is why nobody except me would talk to you about this matter. The heads would never accept an outsider to actively know about them."

It was a lot to stomach and I remained silent for a long time before reacting.

"So what about me?"

I asked with a silent voice.

"... There is nothing much to say. You remind me of her, nothing more nothing less. I do not see you as some kind of replacement as I have long accepted the fact that she is dead."

I nodded, didn't want to be seen as this.

"What exactly is the goal of the Clan?"

I needed to know. If they were such a big faction in the world I would need to find out as much as I could about them.

"Do you really want to know? Should they ever find out you'll be hunted down you realize this?"

I smiled, I didn't care.

"I am fully aware of this. But I want to know where I'm at should we ever face off against them."

Shaking her head in disbelieve she answered me.

"What is god for you Alexis? Is it a manifestation of will? A being of incredible might and wisdom? The goal of the Clan is to create a god amongst men to lead them into the next age. Through any means necessary. When the espers appeared they were finally one step closer to this goal."

She laughs once seemingly desperate.

"Want to know how the Clan researches espers?"

I was afraid but I nodded anyways. I could guess how ruthless people searching for god would be.

"They take clones of human beings that have already manifested and then they test them trying to make them manifest through different means. Then they measure what had changed. Quite ruthless but effective."

Confused I interrupt her.

"Clones? They can clone actual humans?"

She gave me a sad smile.

"We have been able to do this since long ago. Technically Sasha was a modified clone of me since they used the same base DNA. Do not misunderstand though. The Clan is always trying to improve, as such creating two of the same kind for the family is not done. It would potentially hinder the existence of a new genius. We even have a personal cloning bay in this complex, together with a few labs. They were originally designed for my sister to work at."

"Are you actually telling me that I can clone anyone I have the DNA of?"

I asked with hope in my eyes. Does this mean I could create something different than my "Dolls"?

But Karen's gaze turned hard.

"Don't do it Alex. I can already guess your intention but don't. If Clones know that they are only clones they will not last long and trust me, I know what I'm talking about. It is also one of the reasons why the humans in the Clan are not clones, but created individuals. As such we can keep our sanity. So please do not do it."

She was almost pleading at me and I understood nothing good would come out of cloning Zoe or my parents. I nodded.

"Ok, I will refrain from doing it but I would still ask to have access to the labs... There are some things I have to test out if possible. Things I have thought about for a long time."

She mustered me for a full minute before finally breaking the silence.

"Very well... I'll tell everyone to show you the labs tomorrow. I want you all to rest, I have accomplished that command is giving us a few weeks off after this ordeal. Go sleep Alex. We will talk again tomorrow."

I nod and salute again. I did not mean it as sign of difference between us but simply as a means of showing my respect and understanding.

Then I left her alone with her thoughts. Cloning ey? Even though her story had hit me and the existence of the Clan actually scared me I smiled. They wanted to create a god amongst men, we'll see about that.

I met no one on my way to my bedroom and quickly went to rest.

The thing that woke me up was my own stomach. Not eating for almost a full day had taken its toll on me and left me feeling hungry. I did not know how long I had slept but when I came to the cafeteria I was greeted by Songe who was sitting at one of the tables. After grabbing my fair share of food I joined him. He looked at me from the side.

"So you know no don't you? About our Captains so called family."

He sneered.

"It's pretty messed up if you think about it. She also told me to show you the entrance to the cloning plant. Can I ask what you plan on doing with it?"

I had multiple things I wanted to try but there was only one thing I really wanted to do.

"I want to find out about my power. As of now I barely know anything about biology. As a matter of fact only the things from my time in school. I that that if I look through the files in the lab I can find better ways to implement my power."

He nods.

"That could quite well be the case but be careful anyways. Don't get too far into it. We don't want you because of your power but because of your being."

Shortly after his warning we heard multiple people walk into the room. It was Liam and Rose, the latter smiling like a madman.

"We're now officially on leave. Anyone in to do something fun? How about you Alex, want to spar a bit? I still have a lot I could potentially teach you."

Is it just my imagination or did her smile just turn a tad bit sadistic? Raising my hands I tried to say no as politely as possible.

"I'd rather not Rose, I don't want to get beaten up all over again."

"PPFFFT, come on you coward, let's go. I just want to have a good fight again."

Liam smiled a bit before voicing his thoughts.

"She's been like this ever since her fight with that red haired dude. Seems like she actually wants to defeat that guy aga- OW!"

I laughed at the sight in front of me, Rose had hit Liam on the back of his head.

"The SHE you're talking about is still in the room, want me to kick your ass again? If I fought seriously I would've flattened that guy in a minute tops."

Liam laughed again.

"Wasn't it 2 minutes before? Have you become more confident?"

Yeah, her smile was definitely sadistic as she shot it at Liam.

"Now you've done it, I'll teach you who's confident and who's not."

With that she grabbed him by his shoulders and started pulling him towards the entrance. Liams resistance was small and he laughed more than he truly defended himself. To me it seemed like he actually wanted to fight her. And with that they went outside again.

Songe only chuckled to himself muttering.

"Well, that was awkward but it was to be expected, Rose always has this habit of fighting to get rid of frustration."

"Yeah she does, we're getting old aren't we? The kids go play and we just sit somewhere talking about stuff."

A voice called out jokingly from a second entrance. I immediately recognized it as Ignar. Interested I turn around, he seemed tired with big rings under his eyes.

"Hey Alexis, mind if this old man joins you guys?"

Of course I had nothing against it and gestured him to sit down.

"Chris is still mad because of the questioning and while I know it was necessary I don't think it was well executed anyways. Oh and Alex, don't tell Christian about what the general tried to have you do. If he knew he would probably try to crush the entire military police and everyone responsible."

Yeah, don't think he would react calmly about this anyways.

"He seems quite impulsive doesn't he?"

I ask the both of them, though they shake their heads.

"He's actually not. He is just of the opinion that one should respect certain people due to what they have accomplished. When that commissioner told him he'd be stripped of his rank, even temporarily it was pretty much the worst insult he could have said. Aside from that he is very reliable."

Finishing my food we talked about multiple things ranging from simple stories to past missions they had taken part of. In the end we were interrupted by Karen who came in wanting to talk with me. Nodding towards the two veterans I walked outside.

"Don't worry about us two, we're probably just going to do some old timer stuff."

Songe shouted jokingly but Karen replied before I could.

"Oh Parker, you're older than me, are you suggesting I'm old?"

Instantly he shut his mouth but we could clearly see a grin on this face making us able to guess his answer.

Outside Karen hands me a grey keycard.

"Alexis, this is the key for the labs you wanted to have access to. I'll lead you to the door and you can start working from there."

The door was not even that far away, which surprised me, wouldn't it make more sense to put important parts of the facility far down or at least in the inner parts of the compound?

Reading my expression Karen answered me.

"The door is here, but the labs are a few hundred meters below the ground. It's a staircase leading down. We also have an elevator but it's out of commission. Can't have anyone remove important parts now can we."

I nodded and used the card she had given me to open the steel framed door. Karen stopped outside and handed me a small book.

"I doubt that you'll be able to operate anything down there, so here's a manual on what exactly is down there. There will also be a laptop with information on the devices and on everything the Clan has studied, though it will not be at the peak of knowledge it's still a lot. I suggest you read everything before actually trying to work on anything."

I nodded, thankful for this.

"Thank you, I will be careful do not worry."

With a last smile she walks away and leaves me with the open door.

I sigh.

Well then, let's get started shall we?