by Jessie Wolf
“Oh, I have a feeling she is going to be just fine little sister.” I told her.
“What will she do though? I mean she can’t go back to being just an ordinary person?” was Fuyuko next question.
I had to giggle at this one. “Little sister, do you honestly think that the once Reverend Mother Nakatoma Dai Etsu will ever be just ordinary person?”
When she looks up at me she realizes just how absurd that thought truly is. Once she does she beings to giggle as well.
“You still didn’t answer what she’ll do, sissy.” Ah yes, little Nanami, she will be the one who shall always keep us on track.
“Why Nanami, she can be anything and do anything she will want to now. I highly doubt that she will become a warrior like us, but that doesn’t mean she can’t be any number of things. All the nanites are doing is resetting the clock of life for her.” I quickly answer the more serious of the twins. I take a quick look over at her and see that the nanites now form a solid barrier over her entire body. The only thing that is exposed is her face which is looking even younger as time goes on. As I look at her I realize that without the secondary Death Dealer protocols when that cocoon opens she will be naked as the day she was born, not to mention myself the minute I disengage my armor. “Hum … look little sisters, I don’t mean to seem uncaring or anything, but I have a little problem.”
All three of them look at me as if I had just made the understatement of the century. Then again in their eyes I probably had. “Hum……Well it’s like this. When I engage my armor it kind of destroys whatever I’m wearing.” At their blank looks I figured that I’ll have to tell them. “When I change back I’ll be bare as the day I was born.” When they still didn’t get it I almost yelled out that I was naked underneath my armor. “I’M NA… I’m naked underneath my armor. When it goes away everyone will see me.” When they hear this the giggling starts. “Hey this isn’t funny. Quit giggling. If you don’t stop I’m telling mama on you.” The more I complain the more they giggle. When I threaten to tell mama on them they burst out laughing. Despite how they got here they weren’t worried about mama anymore which was a good thing. Now I just had to deal with getting us some replacement clothes. I decide to put on a little show for them. “Well. If you are going to be that way about it. PPPPPHHHHHTTTTTT!” I give them the biggest raspberry I could. Needless to say that sends them over the edge. So in a huff I turn around and start for the door. When they see me heading for the door Fuyuko yells out to me. “Sissy, where are you going?”
Stopping I look back at them. “I’m going to get something to wear other than my armor for me as well as something for mama when she wakes up.” I tell them.
“Why would mama need something to wear?” pops in Nanami.
“Oh didn’t I tell you? She will have the same problem when she wakes.” I say.
Before I knew it all three were rushing over to me. “We want to go too. You’ll get her something old and frumpy.” Nanase tells me.
“Whoa there kiddos, I need someone to stay here with mama so they don’t move her yet.”
Fuyuko looks at me a little strangely, and then asks the all-important question. “Why’s that sissy. You say she’s going to be just fine.”
“Because if someone were to touch her the nanites well attack them. Until they get done no one can touch her. The nanites aren’t like regular medicine. What they are is tiny little robots that are programed to heal mama and mama only. So we need someone to stay here with her.”
Then the twins look at each other and at the same time say “Ok, we’ll stay.”
I just look at them like they have lost their minds, while Fuyuko just shakes her head and says. “You know that you two aren’t supposed to do that. It drives the norms crazy.”
“What’s a norm?” I ask them.
Giggling, Fuyuko answers for them. “You know a normal person. A norm. Get it?”
“Oh I get it alright, but I am as far from being normal as you can get.” I tell them then head out to find something to wear for me and mama. The twins head back inside to be with mama while Fuyuko joins me. As we leave the beauty salon I see that all of the AP suits have repositioned themselves. One of them is literally standing over the doorway to the salon. What gets my attention the most though is the IFV that’s parked right in front of the shop at the curb. Before they had setup out on the far edge of the square now however they are at each corner with inter locking fields of fire. Wow, these boys are pissed.
We get stopped by a young lieutenant just outside the door. “Excuse me, ladies. May I know where you think you’re going? You just need to turn around and go back inside until I give the all-clear. Now move along. Get back inside.” When we didn’t move he started to get belligerent. “I told you two to get back inside now move it.” Well that was the last straw, however I wasn’t the one put the ass hat in his place.
“Just who do you think you are to order the DAUGHTERS of Nakatoma Dai Etsu around?!” I don’t know where it came from, but Fuyuko lit into him as if she was a seasoned frontline sergeant. “YOU, do not order around the Ladies of House Nakatoma, lieutenant. I’ll have you know, that this is my sister the Head of House for the Nakatoma Family. As such she can go where she wishes. On top of that she is the one known as Wave Dancer. You know the person that destroyed twelve of those tin plated monsters, the ones you were supposed to protect us from. Now! GET! OUT! OF! OUR! WAY!” with she shoved him back on his ass. Now normally I would have taken her to task about the way she handled the situation, but I really can’t fault her for doing exactly what I would have.
“WOW! Sis that was pretty impressive. I never would have expected that out of you. Where; just where, did that come from?” I asked of her. “What I mean is where did you learn how to chew someone out like that?”
Turning bright red with embarrassment she ducks her head a little then mumbled her answer. Not hearing what she said I asked her to repeat it. This time it was still very soft. So I asked her again. This time she took a deep breath, then looked me dead in the eye and said. “I learned it from watching Sister Goda chewing out the Temple guards when they tried to tell us that we couldn’t watch the House troops train on the range.” I swear by all that is holy she could’ve said anything else, and I would not have giggled as hard as I did at that. I just couldn’t help it. To learn how to dress down an arrogant ass hat like that, just from watching one of the hardest Sisters to please is priceless. Fuyuko must have thought I was making fun of her. Because she heatedly told me “Well I did.”
I wave for her to calm down. “Peace, little sister, peace. I’m not making fun of you. I’m just laughing at the situation. You do realize that you just put one of the new Temple Guardians in his place, right?”
The look that crosses her face makes me wish I had a vid-corder. It was one of pride, shock, and embarrassment. “Did I really just do that, sissy?”
Nodding my head yes, I put my arm around her, and head back into the Lolita and the Prince. “Come on I need a replacement outfit and so does mama.”
Once inside the store clerk looked over at me. “Oh, hello again. Is there something that you forgot?”
“No miss; we didn’t forget anything. You can help us out though. You know all that shooting and fighting that was going on earlier?” Who wouldn’t; it happened right outside of her front door? “Well in all that was going on both me and my mama destroyed our outfits. Would you happen to have some replacements of them?” I asked in my sweetest and most innocent voice possible. For the first time she took a good look at what I was wearing or should say not wearing. I decided to deactivate my armor as I asked for a replacement outfit.
If you ever want to get instant service in a clothing store just show up bare assed. It worked for me. The poor girl couldn’t get me into a changing room fast enough. I heard Fuyuko having an uncontrollable giggle fit out front. However my less than tactful approach got me what I needed without having to argue or explain my reasons for needing a set of
replacement outfits. A few short minutes later I had everything I was wearing from earlier replaced, and was dressed again. Stepping out of the changing rooms I head back out front.
Once there I thanked the young lady for her help. Telling her to add the two replacement outfits to our bill I picked up mama’s replacement and headed back to where she and the twins were waiting.
Fuyuko was shaking her head at me. “Sissy, that was totally outrageous. The look on her face when she saw you standing there naked was priceless. I only have one question though. Where does your armor go when it’s not in use?”
“I don’t know. You see I have never watched it deploy or retract in the mirror. Why what did you see?” I tell her.
She gets a real thoughtful expression on her face for a moment before answering me. “It was like watching you being covered in a blazing fire when it appears, but when it goes away there is this sliding effect as pulls away from your front. It looks like it all just disappears into your spine.”
“That’s pretty much what it feels like. Say, why all the interest in how my armor works?” I ask her.
“If you answer a few more questions for me, sissy I will tell you everything.” She was quick to answer, too quickly for my tastes.
“No. Now answer my question right now, Fuyuko.” I put just enough of the ‘I’m the adult here’ tone in my voice to get an answer.
“Do you remember earlier today, when you asked us if we wanted to be AP Suits pilots?” When I nod my head yes she continued “Well that was what I really wanted to be. That was until I saw, what you can do. You were the real hero out there today. I know, because I saw it all. I watch as you cut down those things that tried to kill mama. I want to be like you, Maiha. Will you help me?”
Chapter 5
A New Look
Now there are a lot of things she could’ve said at that point in time, but that was the furthest from my mind. To say I was stunned would be to say the least. I mean this young girl wanted to be like me, but how much? I had to find out, and now.
“Little one, I am greatly honored that you want to be like me. I have to ask you though; just how much like me do you want to be?” I was a little worried about what her answer would be.
“I want to be exactly like you sissy.” Yup, I had a right to be. “I saw how you fought those things. I saw your weapons as you used them on the different robots. I saw how you moved between each one as you fought them. You were truly a being of terrifying beauty. It was as if one of the ancient Gods of War had come to defend us.” Then she went on to describe what she had seen. Her words were poetic, beautiful, and wrong. What she saw, was not me. To her, I was this great and powerful warrior spirit. I was not that. Not by a long shot. I had to get her to see that.
“Fuyuko, I don’t know what to say.” I truly didn’t. “But kiddo, what you saw me doing out there was not a thing of beauty. It was fighting pure and simple. There is nothing beautiful about that not ever.”
“There is where you are wrong sissy. I should know.” When she looks up at me I see something in her young eyes I have only seen in the eyes of battle hardened soldiers with years in the field. “I have seen what war does to people. I was ten when my mother and father brought us here four years ago from Crossroads. We came here just after the revolution ended. I remember the bloody fighting, the senseless destruction, and mindless violence. I know your secret, sissy. I saw one just like you in the final days. What I saw then and what I saw today was one and the same. Both terrifying and beautiful, so yes, sissy, I know and I want to be that. Can you help me?”
Before I can come up with an answer we are standing outside of the beauty salon. I really don’t want to have this talk in front of everyone else, but most importantly our baby sisters. “Fuyuko, I promise you when we get back home you, me, and mama will all sit down to discuss this. Is that ok with you?”
When she sees the look on my face, she just nods her head yes. I was not too thrilled with her knowing my secret. However I am more worried over the fact that she has seen so much blood shed in her young life. She should not be thinking about becoming a weapon of war. Her thoughts should be on things like her first kiss, where she’ll go on her first date, or anything else a young girl would dream of in a peaceful world.
Once inside the shop we ahead over to where mama is. When we get there, what I see floors me like nothing else has since I cracked my own cocoon.
“Dee De! You told me that she would only become younger! Not so good looking that she belongs on a fashion vides cover!”
Hey! What can I say? Most of that beauty was always there. All I did was to bring it out. Besides I can’t take all the credit, some of that is Charley’s handy work. (Dee De)
“Charley how much of this is your doing?”
Commander I can only take the credit for her figure and proportions. (Charley)
“Soooo between the two of you, you have turned her from a mild mannered looking but pretty priestess into the hottest looking mother of four teenage girls in the Death Gates system?”
………… (Dee De)
……… (Charley)
“Ok you cough it up. What did you do? Exactly!”
Well we didn’t exactly do anything. We just set the guide lines for the nanites, and then let them just have fun doing the rest. (Dee De)
“Are you kidding me!? You turned loose a horde of microscopic free range medical nanites whose only instructions where to make her as beautiful as possible?”
No don’t be silly. We also told them to repair any and all damage to her body as well. (Dee De)
“AAAAAHHHHGGGGAAA! You idiots didn’t you realize that they would do their best to make her the most gorgeous woman in the system?”
Hum……no. (Charley)
“Oh sweet Mother of the Goddess!”
Before I can say anything more Nanase runs over to me and gives this huge hug. “Oh sissy, when you said she would be good as new you weren’t lying. Why mama is going to be so beautiful. We’ll have the prettiest mama on all of Hades.” I swear she was as giddy as they come. She wasn’t the only one either. Nanami was almost bouncy in her happiness. Fuyuko looked like someone had just given her a new puppy. Oh the hell with it. If she can be happy about having a mama who is drop dead gorgeous who am I to complain? Then again she’ll be my mama too. Hum this has possibilities.
So with that in mind I began to plot and scheme on how to keep her busy while me and my little sisters have a little fun. Let me think here. When she’s finished she’ll look to be in her late twenty’s. Just the right age for a young Maj. or Cpt. to date. If I can get one of them or maybe even the Head Captain it would definitely keep her out of trouble. Not to mention maybe give her what, she missed out on when she entered the Temple as a nun. Hay that’ll work.
I looked at the time and saw that in the next fifteen minutes her cocoon will crack open. I place her replacement outfit on one of the nearby chairs. “Come on you three we need to find something to block her from sight when she comes out of her cocoon.” When my baby sisters look at me with questioning eyes it was Fuyuko who comes to my rescue.
With a very hushed voice she informs them. “Mama, will be naked when the cocoon opens.”
When they hear that, the giggles can’t be stopped. “Alright you two get a move on. We have less than …… fifteen minutes before it opens.” With that the three of them scattered to the winds. Meanwhile I stay behind just in case her cocoon pops open sooner than expected. Ten minutes later the girls come back with what looks like a vehicle trap. “What this that and where did you get it?” I ask them.
Giggling Nanase smiles up at me and says. “We got it from Joey. All I had to do was ask real nice like and he was pulling it off the back of his what did he call it Nanami?”
“He called it his IFV trap. What does that mean sissy?” Nanami asked of me.
“It means Infantry Fighting Vehicle baby girl.” I reply without thinking.
“Anyway Joey said we can use it,
but we have to bring it back.” Nanase finished.
Then it hits me. She had said all she had to do was ‘ask real nice’. “Wait a minute. What do you mean by ‘real nice’ there missy?”
When my baby sisters hear me get all ‘over protective big sister’ they start to at first giggle, then snicker, and then finally laugh out load. The more they laugh the hard it gets for me not to. Soon though I just can’t hold it in any longer I’m giggling myself. Oh well, so much for being the levelheaded one in all this. I’m really starting to worry about how much that damn behavioral programing has affected my judgment. I have to put that thought on hold however because mamas’ cocoon started to crack. Waving to the girls they pick up the trap and we move in to place so mama doesn’t give the whole world a show of a lifetime. Stepping around the edge of the trap I watch as she emerges from her cocoon. To say she was beautiful would be an understatement.
“Maiha, where am I?” she asked of me.
“Mama, you’re still at the beauty salon. Don’t you remember what happened?”
“To be truthful, not really, the last thing I that I remember was sitting in the waiting area of the salon. We were waiting for your sisters to come out. We surprised them with how much we look alike. Then I felt this real sharp pain in my chest.” I watched as a very confused look crossed her face. I waited for a few minutes to let her get her bearings. “Wait a minute! I was shot by someone outside. Then you, you went into your combat mode and left the salon. When you came back in you said something about saving my life, but that I would have to leave the Temple if you did. You used your nanites to save my life. I take it that it worked?” when she looked at me I just nodded my head. “So my dear, just how young have I become?”
“Well, from what Dee De and Charley tell me you’re about twenty-eight years old now physically.” I tell her.
“Did you say twenty-eight years old?” she asked in total shock.
“Yes ma’am. I sure did, but that’s not all they did.” I decide that I’d let her ask for the complete information on what they did. Just to see how upset she was.