:"I still remember her words before she attacked me perfectly...”
Murasaki's voice shifts to a different, younger tone, as if she was another person.
:
“Right from our very beginning, we neitypes were created by those foolish humans to become weapons of war. The value of a neitype is based completely on strength alone. Sister, you are said to be the ultimate masterpiece of the NM-1000 series. For me, defeating you would be reaffirming my existence. “Then Murasaki's voice returns to her 'normal'.
: “NM-2011 was stronger than me. Faster too. And she had two cutting-edge plasma claws against my single solid metal claw I had salvaged from some ruins. Her advantage seemed so great she threw away one of her own plasma claws to make the fight last longer. She had waited years doing nothing but being prepared for this battle, so she wanted to make that moment last as long as possible.
: ”But as the battle dragged on it was her plasma claw that started to run out of power while my solid metal one kept in perfect condition. Digging inside my memories, I finally recognized it as one of the legendary Nei claws left behind by our first eldest sisters. Having been in so many battles they developed a spirit of their own. Maybe I didn’t found it in the first place, maybe it called to me.
: ”Tapping into my weapon’s true potential left me drunk with power for a moment, my combat insticts took the better of me and I attacked NM-2011 with all my might. When I came back to my senses my little sister was bleeding to death at my feet. I broke down crying, taking her in my lap and apologizing for what I had done, then saw that she was still smiling as she died. With her last breaths, my little sister told me to don’t be foolish, that her fight with me had finally brought some sense to her existence, and Gene would’ve discarded her soon enough anyway for some newer model.
: ”When my little sister stopped breathing I snapped again. Started slashing at everything in sight inside that cursed bio-dome. Gene tried to calm me down but I wasn’t listening anymore. Eventually broke inside the area where he was keeping all my new little sisters sleeping inside their capsules, all being brainwashed by Gene. Hundreds. Thousands. Too many for me to count. All of them like the one I had just killed with my own claws, all dreaming of the day they would awaken and fight whoever they were programmed to see as an enemy to the death… I couldn’t stomach the idea. I started killing them. It was mercy, right? My duty as their big sister, correct? We had no place in that world.
: ”Gene couldn't awaken them for their programming would certainly make my orders to them override its, so instead that cursed AI started sending its automated security forces, declaring me a complete failure. Bot wave after bot wave. They were a lot weaker than my little sister, but every one I tore down was replaced just seconds later. I didn’t mind. My skin bled, my flesh burned, my bones broke, but I kept fighting, wanting to take down as many as possible with me.”
: ”Then there was a big explosion taking out of a big bunch of bots at once, and who else but Chaz shows up. Stupid sweet kid. Sneaked inside the dome to 'rescue' me, even managed to break into an armory for some explosives. His voice made me sane again for a moment. A moment to realize we were now both doomed as more bots arrived and Chaz wasn’t packing nearly enough explosives. The dumb boy said we should run, and for a moment I followed him in that, but then he got shot in the leg and could run no more. Couldn’t carry him and fight the bots at the same time, and Gene was out to kill all of his kind. I was ready to die but Chaz deserved to live, I prayed to the Light for a miracle as Chaz lost consciousness from blood loss and I fought to keep Gene's bots away from him…”
: ”And a miracle did happen as who else but Wren and Demi themselves appeared in the metal piloting their MCXR-31! They had noticed Edge’s strange activity taking over the planet’s ancient weapon systems and went straight to the source to stop it. Let me tell you the current movies don’t make them enough justice. That bio-dome was built like a fortress to survive the apocalypse, multiple layers of defenses and Wren just blasted his way right to Gene’s core without slowing down while Demi stayed behind to use her Medical Power to heal me and Chaz. As the legendary android cut a path through the the security bots, Wren explained he was basically the main system supervisor tasked with taking care of any other main AIs that showed any abnormal behaviour. So Gene was to be suspended and rebooted while Wren would take over the facility to try to fix things.”
: ”As all its defenses were breached, Gene refused to surrender and initiated the bio-dome’s self-destruct sequence. Wren reacted instantly, declaring the facility a lost cause and changing his priorities to rescuing as many lives from the place as possible before it all turned to ashes. Wren and Demi started loading my little sisters capsules inside MCXR-31 as it seemed Gene had decided to be a sore loser… But I saw the real danger. The self-destruct wasn’t just a move out of spite. Gene had predicted Wren and Demi would take my little sisters when it declared the bio-dome a lost cause. My little brainwashed sisters programmed to wage war in all the old humanoids. I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t let a single one of my little sisters get out of that cursed place alive. Who knew what sleeping protocols had been buried inside their minds, all the records would be lost with the bio-dome. Even worst, Wren may take them to his main base to try to treat them, only for them to run rampart there. Billions would still die from Gene’s legacy. Even I wasn't safe.”
: ”So I begged Wren just to take Chaz and leave me and my little sisters behind, to only take the human kid with them. I didn’t have the energy or time to explain why, but somehow that was enough. Wren ordered Demi to leave the capsules behind and they escaped the bio-dome with Chaz before the whole place exploded.
: ”But I didn’t die. The mecha Gene had prepared for me saved my life at the last moment. It had been programmed to keep me alive at all costs and didn’t help me before just because Gene was sending an override code. But when that mad AI finally exploded there was nothing left to restrain it anymore.
: ”Whatever fears I had that I may have some hidden program to carry Edge's plan of extermination dissipated when I realized I just felt tired of killing and violence. Wanted to do something else. Anything else. Taking care of Chaz had been pleasant enough. I first went to look for that sweet stupid kid but when I found Chaz he had been taken in by a veteran Hunter as her apprentice. Chaz looked really happy and the Huntress had a great reputation so I decided there would be no sense trying to get in their life.”
: ”Still needed something to do. Could’ve maybe tried to just live in the wastelands, hunt for myself, but eldest sister memories left me longing for some companionship. Reviewing my big sister’s lifes, a common theme was maids. Nobody ever suspects them too much and they’re accepted pretty much everywhere. Virtually every place will take in a maid willing to work for just food and bed. All the frilly clothing made for a great disguise. And I actually knew quite a bit about cooking and cleaning and actually taking care of an human from watching over young Chaz all that time. If anything I would say that’s one point in which I’m clearly superior to my elder sisters, The Light knows your ex had Rolf take care of all the work around the house.”
: ”So worked as a maid for years, but eventually my combat instincts started surfacing again. Urges to claw at stuff, hunt. Can’t escape my original programming I guess. Managed to hold them back for some time but eventually a family I was working got in the bad side of some gangsters and I finally lashed out. Their boss wwas impressed enough to offer me work. I accepted in return for not bothering the family I was serving anymore. One thing led to another and when I noticed it was working more as an underground mercenary than an actual maid. The maid mercenary. The dress became more and more part of my image until I didn’t dare to take it off in front of anybody else. And how could I? Plenty of bounties with Nei’s face out there. The maid outfit keeps me safe. It keeps me happy. When I don it, I’m not some freak wandering the wastelands and living off scraps, I'm not NM-1153 the biomonster engineered by Edge the AI that wanted to exterminate all other humanoids, I’m not the nei sister that killed so many of her sisters, I’m just a maid that answers by Murasaki to Master Lotushand.”
: "If I may say, felt good to let that out of my chest. Thank you for listening. I can see why big sister Nei got interested on you."