Building the Collateral - 92 - Early Access (Patreon)

“Morgan is my legal ward. There is no discussion to be had.”

“In that regard, you are quite correct. I did do my research on your homework,” Hermetic drawled. “Not to mention that the local Cavia judges are obviously quite biased towards their leadership. Smith-Shimano Corpo would have to escalate to the galactic courts to try and overrule it- assuming that Union would even hear of the matter.”

My eyes narrowed as I studied the egregorian, trying to figure out their angle. It didn’t escape me how they referred to the megacorporation as a separate entity to themselves in this argument. “So what are you even trying to do?”

“Call it a cautionary warning. Morgan is clearly an SSC creation, likely one of the finest in this part of space by my estimation...and therefore, worth a tremendous amount of value to the right individual. Or company, as it were.”

It felt wrong hearing her be priced as if just some commodity. “She’s her own person.”

“So too was her donor. I looked up the records regarding Morrigan Moores.” Hermetic’s wings fluttered slightly, something like agitation passing through their form briefly. “Are you aware of what potential truly lies within her? Morrigan was not just an ordinary pilot- she was a lancer, through and through. One that contributed significantly to the SSC. Now her clone is poised to potentially reap even more of those benefits.”

Well, that confirmed one suspicion at least. Guess my aunt’s side of the family was where all the lancer genetics went. I pushed the thought away for the moment and returned with another argument on my lips. “Whatever my aunt chose was her path. Morgan deserves to pick her own too.”

“...Smith-Shimano would likely claim otherwise. They have incurred financial loss for her creation, those stolen funds for her creation being embezzled from otherwise critical projects elsewhere.” They clicked once loudly with their mandibles. “It might not be your fault, or even hers. But there are plenty within the corporation that seek a scapegoat to blame for this loss. Especially with Francois remaining at large and beyond their reach for the moment.”

Really, you didn’t need much to make me reason loath the fellow even more. But sure, I’ll take an additional grudge for causing me this massive headache. “So is that it then?” I snapped, my temper definitely fraying a little. “Monetary compensation will make it all go away?”

“That is one avenue of resolution, yes.” Before I could accuse the charity effort of having just been a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Hermetic loudly cleared their trachea. “However, do consider that plain manna is valued far less within Smith-Shimano Corpo. We already have plenty of it, after all.”

“You’re not about to tell me that a megacorporation doesn’t want more money?”

“If you are offering, then there would hardly be such refusal. Consider though that funding always simply been a means to an end,” they sharply reminded with a single arm wave. “Unlike IPS-N who lords over shipping or Harrison Armory who take the iron throne, Smith-Shimano has always sought cultivation within oneself. A challenging task that demands the science be ever advancing.”

“...They’d settle for just studying her?” I put out there with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

“Not quite.” Hermetic’s head tilted in a way that was an undeniable expression of triumph, a smug sort of smile coming through despite the lack of lips with their biology. “They would settle for me studying her. Especially as of my peers, I am most suited to unraveling the intricacies of Francois’ work.”

“Quite the grandiose claim.”

“One that many, including myself, believe. That is what is most relevant to the matter.” The egregorian jerked their head my way. “Think of what I have already accomplished with a single test. Consider of the possibilities which lay in extended study of Morgan. If academic pursuit hardly interests you, then think instead of revenge against that man whose secrets would be undone by my work!”

A rather passionate plea there, almost as if Hermetic was the one begging for the opportunity now. Which I guess could make sense if this Francois had really been a top geneticist with his own secret techniques or sequences. “You would go against Smith-Shimano if I were to grant this request?’

“I would be able to file a report stating that she has fallen within my jurisdiction of study. Once claimed, only the sector’s branch leader would be able to raise the matter again for reconsideration.”

“And would they?”

Hermetic let out a chitter. “As if her gaze would ever drift away from her interests and onto us. So long as she obsesses over her own projects, those competent beneath her are permitted extraordinary leashes.”

That wasn’t the clear and cut answer I was hoping for, as I could already see such a future where such we might be subjected to such scrutiny. But it should at least buy time to hopefully solidify the current position here, making it so that any attempt could meet fierce resistance. Hmm, if I spun it in a way, I could maybe also involve other foreign factions to unite against this.

It’d hopefully be a day far off for now, so best focus on present matters. I considered Hermetic’s offer and found it quite tempting indeed, as it was basically giving Morgan protection against further SSC shenanigans. It wasn’t perfect, as sometimes megacorporations would happily wage wars within itself for personal gain, but at the very least it was better than fretting about a genetic ninja squad from stealing her away so freely.

However, it also all entirely hinged on the researcher before me. I really wished that I remembered more about the setting’s aliens, only faintly recalling the burning of their world as the catalyst for the downfall of SecComm. At the same time, my impression so far was that Hermetic didn’t so far care about said event, being seemingly so removed from the matter that they might not even follow whatever lore there had been.

Could I trust them? Was it really right to place my niece in the care of a scientist who thought so much of themselves?

...No, wait. It wasn’t just my decision to make. It was the one most affected by the adults squabbling in a room over, left alone to just wonder what was to become of her.

“I’d like to talk with Morgan for a moment, with some privacy. Then I’ll give you my answer to your proposal.”

Hermetic delivered a huff of frustration, but obliged with a gesture to the door that led into the examination room. As I stepped through, I spied them reaching for various instruments and flicking them off. It looked like they did want to give me real alone time with my niece, which did match up with the earlier request for me to wait outside while they checked over Morgan in private. Something that a professional medical expert would do, so a point in their favor I suppose.

Still, when dealing with somebody working for their own gain, I had to be sure.

“Uncle!” Morgan greeted from where she sat in a chair, beaming brightly. Next to her was another doctor, a human one this time who apparently kept her company all the while. “Is it over already? That was fast!”

“Fast?” My mind caught up after a moment and I let out a slight cough. “Ah, I suppose in comparison to your prior experiences. Maybe they work quicker here.”

“That’s unlikely,” the attending man mentioned with a chuckle, rising from where he’d been sitting. “Hermetic likes to take their time to be sure, they dislike mistakes. We just ran a quick test today, no sense in making you run the whole gauntlet if we’ll see you again soon.”

“That’s very much appreciated,” I told with a nod, then delivered my request. “Doctor, I’d like to talk alone with my niece for a bit if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, I’m not a doctor yet. Still just an assistant for the big daddybug,” he joked, raising a hand in parting to Morgan and giving a farewell as he departed. “See you again, sister.” I blinked bemusedly at the unexpected title and glanced at the girl in my care with a questioning look.

She picked up on my question and readily delivered an explanation. “He’s just like me, apparently. A facsimile clone.” Her expression dropped as she mulled over the truth she herself must have been told too. “So...I’m not actually your niece. I think.”

“You are if you want to be,” I gently provided, shifting to rest on the abandoned stool next to Morgan. “I think regular family definitions don’t exactly cover the actual relationship between us.”

“Heh. Yeah,” she said with a small smile. “I guess I’m not normal too.”

“Nobody is. Everybody stands out from others in their own ways.”

“At least mine, I apparently am like...a supersoldier, I guess?” she considered aloud, making me sigh and wonder how much was actually disclosed by Hermetic. Probably a lot, which...she did deserve to know about, I guess. “My...I’ll call her mom. She really kicked that much butt for the SSC?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed with a shake of the head. “I only knew her in passing. But if what they say is true, then yes: she was a lancer.”

“I am too, right?’

I exhaled loudly and tried to wrap my head around it. “Likely,” I told. “If you want to find out, I can ask Erica or Luna to try squaring up against you in a simulation. If you can hold out against them for at least a minute, then without a doubt yes.”

“...I’d like to try.” Something to pencil in for the future then. “But uncle, if I’m a lancer, then...I have to fight.”

“No,” I instantly denied with a shake of the head. “You are far too young. Maybe when you’re older-”

“But I have to be the hero now!” Morgan stressed, arms pressing down against her seat as she squirmed in place. “If I can help and save people in front of me, why shouldn’t I? A lancer fights for justice, right?”

“A lot of times, yes.” Assuming that the GM wasn’t running an evil lancer campaign, but I don’t even know where to begin there. It’d probably start with burning an orphanage or something equally repulsive- and the players would cheer. Ugh, the thought alone made me sick, even if it was their table so to speak. “But you’re too young to fight. Too young to...get hurt,” I finished lamely, too cowardly to name the most terrible outcome there was. “If you’re older, with proper training-”

“I already am trained, aren’t I?” Her hand reached up and pressed against her chest, fingers forming into a clenched fist. “It’s all already inside me. Thanks to how the SSC made me.”

She really wasn’t holding back, huh. A grimace worked its way onto my face and I placed my hand against my mouth, thinking how best to disarm this near-literal bomb. “It’s not that you’re not capable,” I put out there. “It’s more…no, it’s not that you’re not ready.

“It’s more that I want you to have a chance at a life otherwise.”

I couldn’t say she wasn’t ready because she clearly was willing, which, if that was her choice...I’d have to respect it. But at the same time, the effort so far had been trying to at least give her any other road. Any other way out if she wanted.

My words seemed to actually break through to her as Morgan looked my way, that determined resolve vanishing like a star lost in the void. She swallowed and looked down at the ground, face slightly glum at my honesty. It looked like she can at least recognize that it wasn’t because I wanted to be the bad guy to stop her.

“Yeah,” she finally said. “Yeah, it...it’s my life now, isn’t it? I can do whatever I want.”

“You can, and I’ll support you in whatever you choose. Be it lancer,” that word felt like acid in my mouth at the moment, “mechanic, pilot...heck, even a doctor if you’d like. Or a scientist.”

“Hermetic is really nice, uncle,” Morgan mentioned, recovering slightly from the heavy moment. “They might look scary at first, but they’re really soft underneath.”

“Really? How?”

“The nurse, he said that he was actually a refunded facsimile.” That got both my eyebrows to shoot up at the quite sudden reveal. “Apparently, the one he was modeled after wasn’t very happy when he came out and sent him back.”

“How...peculiar.” Yet the more I thought about it, the more I realized it to be far from an impossibility. Facsimiles were meant to be clones that copied the exact personalities and features of whoever they were based on, though somehow still remaining their own person per the First Contact Accords. That was a balance that could easily go awry, which led to the rather dark question of whatever happened to the rejects.

Morgan filled in that blank for my benefit. “Yeah, and he was supposed to be ‘reassigned,’ whatever that meant.” Her tone left little room as to what that could allude to. “But then Hermetic stepped in! Said that they were always in need of more assistants, more hands to help out with their work.”

“Well, that’s nice of them.” Certainly raised my opinion of them a little. “I’m sure that if the rejects are smart enough, they’ll find a place working with a geneticist.”

“It’s actually weirder than that uncle!” Morgan told with all the excitement of a girl her age having learned something to share. “They take in everybody! That guy, he wasn’t born a doctor- but a knight! And the nurse that helped, she was actually supposed to be a musician but didn’t satisfy the client apparently. So Hermetic tossed her a uniform and said to join up!”

“That’s...hmm.” Now I felt less certain, because that felt quite contradictory to the profile I’d been building of them. It didn’t quite line up with a self-serving genius scientist. “I suppose that maybe there was something in the rejects they saw. A potential perhaps?” I sounded out, thinking aloud and trying to understand the reason.

“Maybe it’s just because they want to help others like me!”

I was about to refute my niece’s suggestion, only to pause and review my interactions with them. Hermetic had been quite compliant of all those requests of mine, including the restricted use of the gene cradles. They did complain loudly the intended low volume to be a waste of their skills in their opinion, but never once refrained from still helping. That deal with helping to keep the rest of the SSC from breathing down Morgan’s neck too- while they did gain, was it also to just a nice excuse to leave her be instead of whisking her away to a more suitable laboratory elsewhere?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how the egregorian really did challenge my views. How interesting. “Could be,” I eventually said to Morgan, reaching out to pat her head. “They’re...accommodating, if nothing else.”

“Definitely way better than what I had before.”

“Then I suppose that if you like them so much, let’s have Hermetic remain your primary care doctor.” Which meant accepting that deal. If nothing else, then what I had mentioned about it at least buying time before the SSC decides to renegade on the matter was still going to be handy. I could prepare for that inevitable betrayal in the future if it came to it.

But a small part of me, I think, wanted to believe in that potential too.