Futuristic Cyborg Sister

[rainywrites]

Reminded of her reunion with the bear, and gifted with the extension of five more minutes with her sister, Clover was over the moon. the tears still glinted in her eyes, but she was clearly excited, not close to crying. "tuffy does make everything better." she agreed. "and your work is super important. there's a whole bunch of people out there who need you to make them new arms... and legs... and faces... and hearts... oh, Emmy! do you make hearts? do you make sure they're big enough for people to fall in love with?" she knew, at this point in her life, that that wasn't even close to how anatomy worked. but still.

Reina nodded, sympathetically, over clover's shoulder. it was silent approval towards the little engineer. It was a good choice, and she could see the conflict in her eyes over it. Although Reina was sure her approval meant far less to the engineer, she tried to show it from a sympathetic perspective. that was hard, her eyes said. but it was a good way to handle that. she wanted to slowly have Emelyn seeking approval from her. slowly but steadily, she would, if perhaps a bit less blindly than this girl. but she would seek that approval.

"emmy, what's the hardest thing to make? were my legs hard?" Now Clover's curiosity was shining through, and she sat up to grill her sister on it. Reina let them chatter, moving towards the door, seemingly zoning out to think. "were my legs too hard? i'm sorry, I don't want to be to hard for you, sissy. I love you!"

 

[sleepingonneptune]

The artificial light that filtered in from the shining bulb at the room’s ceiling seemed to illuminate Clover as she spoke. She looked like a little angel sitting there, the evidence of Em’s own shortcomings making the sight nearly bittersweet. Her emotions were colliding aggressively beneath the cool facade of her square-rimmed glasses and gentle but aware expression; fear and hope; excitement and sorrow. She smiled wanly despite it all at the question about making hearts for injured folks. Of course, the one with the kindest heart would be concerned about the state of other people’s own, and despite the impossibility of what her sister was mentioning Em believed a good deal of people in this department could use that sort of mindset. “It’s a little hard to make hearts, they’re very complicated. I know the people who help fix hearts make sure they can love and all that, though.” The words felt a little foreign in their sheer illogicality, but she ignored it.

She could practically feel Reina’s gaze at this point, the familiar silent interrogation becoming familiar to her by this point due to its frequency. A burning glance deeper than it seemed. Those who dismissed her would be punished, and those who fell victim too easily to her control would be trapped. Like a fly, she sat in wait making small talk with Clover until her boss inevitably pushed her over to another lifeless white room separated from all those who truly care for her.

After a brief moment of consideration, she chose to focus on her sister and ignored the way those piercing eyes were looking at her benevolently from the other side of the room. There were more important people at hand. She tilted her head to the left a bit at Clover’s next question, bleached-white hair flopping down onto her shoulder as she considered the question. Practically speaking, legs were one of the more difficult appendages to make from scratch, considering how much people relied on them, but now she felt as though the emotional ties that linked her to this particular case made it easier than anything she had done prior. “Not at all. It’s for you, after all,” She ruffled Clover’s hair slightly, smoothing it down afterward so the girl wouldn’t have to comb through her already-unruly locks. “It can even be quite fun when you get to be creative about it. Like drawing or knitting, but just a little more complicated process-wise.”

 

[rainywrites]

"I know." she said, when Emmy began talking about how complicated hearts were. she did know, personally. she'd been studying them in biology, and they were going to have a test next class on the parts of a heart. or maybe that test had already past. she didn't know and hadn't cared how long she'd been here for. "there's ventricles and valves and bloodflow to worry about... and if somebody only lost part of their heart the rest has to match. sort of like my legs, right? they need to be the right size to fit my thigh." she could imagine that could be harder on an internal organ. she was just lucky not to lose those.

"wow, such a clever girl." Reina noted, almost on instinct. she'd forgotten, for a moment, to pretend she wasn't listening and it had slipped out. "have you ever wanted to be a doctor? clever girl like you could be very useful around here."

Clover grinned, nodding. she had thought about it! and hearing that Reina, the best doctor she knew, thought she'd be good... it felt good. still, she shook her head inevitably. "I want to be a teacher. elementary. I want to teach kids their letters and numbers. but being a doctor sounds really fun. you get to help all those people... it'd be nice to know that you're doing a good thing."

reina smiled at the praise. "helping a clever girl like you is all i need, at the end of the day." it made clover blush, slightly, at the praise. but it likened the two of them. which was good.

"did you have fun making my legs? what colors did you have to choose from?" the blue and purple metals were nice, but she'd seen cyborgs with hot pink arms or facial plates that were neon green. she was curious to see if Emelyn had picked the blue and purple for her especially or just randomly.

 

[sleepingonneptune]

Of course she knew. Em had seen Clover scribbling onto fill-in-the-blank worksheets she knew all too well from her time in school not all too long ago. It had been a few weeks since her sister’s disappearance, something she had kept track of meticulously due to her grief. She would remind herself that the passage of time never truly fluctuated, despite her feeling like years had passed since she had seen her family whole and happy— the constancy was comforting, if not a little melancholy during the darker hours. Her lips twitched up a little at the correct relocation of the heart’s structure, the look of pride shining in her eyes clear as day. “Indeed.”

Her eyes flickered over to Reina instinctually as she began to speak, feeling a little frustrated that she hadn’t had the chance to compliment Clover’s intelligence. It almost felt like a battle for attention. Logically, she knew that some carefully placed sweet-talk and casual job mentioning didn’t mean any sort of coercion was taking place, but the sentiments unsettled her nonetheless.

She had one selfishly thought that having her sister by her side in governmental work would make the whole ordeal better for the both of them, truly, but now she knew better. The sight of those cheerful brown eyes losing their signature glow was too much to even imagine. Em had seen it happen in others, the smiling teens who were slowly broken down by the job’s secret hazards. Endless barrages of incomprehensible criticisms. Cold glances and whispered rumors. Only the heartless and desperate survived in such a place, the towering metal structures filled with identical labs and offices, and Em knew that Clover was neither.

“Ah, right.” She glanced upwards, crossing her arms loosely in a thoughtful fashion. It had been some time since she had considered the early design phases. Building robotic attachments took months of preparation, of meticulous sketching and planning that often yielded nothing but immature rage and wastebaskets full of crumpled paper, but the final design was always worth the while. “You can do just about any color, provided it’s layered over the original metal,” She explained. “I was sort of going for an, er… cloud-like scheme.” She smiled, knowing that Clover’s love of that sort of thing would make the motive believable. Revealing that she hadn’t been told of her sister’s survival would be catastrophic right now.

 

[rainywrites]

Emmy was proud. that was big news to Clover. Emelyn was so bright, so smart, so much older and wiser. Clover looked up to her majorly. and seeing that look of quiet approval in her eyes meant more to the girl than any words the doctor could say. she looked so proud, like she loved the way that Clover recited her parts of the heart. it made her want to go on to muscles, pointing them out to her sister, just to make her turn away from Reina and look at her with those proud eyes forever. clover never wanted her to stop.

Reina was quiet, allowing the sisters a moment together.

"really?" she grinned. "I love clouds! it looks like the clouds at my favorite part of the day." because of the deeper colors and the purple accents, it did remind her of that. the clouds at twilight. "when you come home from work." that was always the best part of the day, for Clover. her homework was usually near complete, and she was always thrilled to see her sister again. "I love you, sissy! and my legs are fantastic."

 

[sleepingonneptune]

Though she wasn’t able to uncover the reason behind the joy in Clover’s eyes, her thoughts too fast-spinning to notice the obvious, Em felt a little tension drain from her body at the sheer honesty of it. Reina’s silence also made things easier. She couldn’t ignore her boss fully, but she appreciated the relative lack of input. Focusing on nothing but her family for a few precious moments was incredible, even if she knew it wasn’t the same. It likely would never be the same. Attempting to keep her thoughts optimistic, Em rationalized that this was how life worked for everyone- people changed and grew up and got stronger. Things didn’t always have to return to what they once were.

She smiled gently, watching Clover as she spoke. Her love for clouds was something Em knew well, from the crayon drawings their mom used to pin up on the fridge to the way she’d reverently stare out at the sky after dinner, so the explanation made sense. If she had known who she had been making the parts for earlier… well, she couldn’t say for sure what she would’ve done, but it still felt awful to know that the secret had been kept so heartlessly from both of them.

“Yeah? I’m glad that you like them,” She said honestly. Her sister’s approval meant a lot to her, far more than the rich folks at headquarters who putzed away the hours pretending like they’d worked a day in their life. “I know you’ll be able to walk in them in no time at all—“ She pressed a pale finger to her sister’s nose, grinning in a way she reserved only for those she trusted. “—because you’re such a great learner.”

 

[rainywrites]

"I do. I love them a lot." she wiggled her toes again, laughing a little at the metal noise they made. she didn't yet know how much she'd grow to hate the noise, the same way everybody did. everybody who ended up in a factory worked by cyborgs heard the sound of their machinery day in and day out, a cacophony of misery. she didn't know that yet. all she knew was that right now, it was the work of her sister, a part of her. proof of her sister's smartness, proof of her love for Clover. and Clover loved Emelyn back.

"I'm learning. I'm learning so fast. and then, i'll be able to go home so fast, sissy. so so fast. i'm going to work sooo hard. you'll see, sissy! you'll be so proud of me." she giggled as the finger touched her nose, happy to have her dear sister so near. she smiled.

"how's momma? how's nana?" she knew Emmy was okay, which was really important. but still... she wanted to know how her mother was. she wanted to know her whole family was okay. "when are they gonna visit? I miss them..." she really did, and she wanted to see her family more than anything. she wanted Nana's cookies and Momma's soup and Emmy's hugs and a family dinner. never mind that the soup was watered down just slightly, and they never had cookies as often as they'd like. she loved her family. and she missed them. even if she could have cookies as often as she liked here... they weren't nana's.

 

[sleepingonneptune]

She glanced down to Clover’s legs at the reminder. Metallic appendages screwed together in a distinctly organized fashion, a poor resemblance of what was once there. It was such an odd thing to experience, seeing the parts she had worked on for months on end attached to someone so familiar to her, and certainly emotionally conflicting. She knew that the robotic legs were responsible for quite literally saving Clover’s life, and yet the girl’s entire world had been turned upside down because of it. Even if she didn’t realize it now. Em couldn’t restore what once was, physically and otherwise, and the thought made her feel sick to her stomach.

She retracted her arm a bit so it was lying loosely on the hospital bed’s scratchy surface. “You’re going to do great, I know.” She looked back up, her gentle smile back in place. “No matter how long you take.” Meaningless reassurances, Em knew, but it was more for herself than it was for Clover at this point. They were going to get through this together.

“They’re alright, they’ll be super happy to see you—“ Glancing back over to Reina, she recalled what the doctor had said earlier about their family visiting. “—and it should be pretty soon, but I’m sure the people taking care of you here can give a more exact date.” She wondered anxiously if Nana would be mad as well. Maybe it was childish or unfitting of her current role, but Em was terrified of the idea of their eldest guardian being upset at her. Arguing with her mother and then ultimately forgiving and forgetting was a part of her relationship with her family, but Nana had just… always been there for her. Kind and calm. She wasn’t sure if she could handle that sort of guilt.

 

[rainywrites]

she smiled at the reassuances. Emelyn thought she'd do great. she truely believed it. that was enough for clover to believe. if her sister believed, so would she. after all, Emelyn had been a guiding light for Clover's whole life. Clover trusted her. she was older and wiser and had a 'promise point potential' off the charts. Clover's promise points were average for her background, to the government. but she had always been proud of Emelyn. she'd do good things. her sister would be great.

Reina jumped in when Emelyn looked over to her. "they'll be allowed to see you once a week, the moment you get out of the hospital." would that also be when the girl's treasured toy went away? yes. "you're very lucky to see your sister, now. a lot of cyborgs don't get to see anybody but doctors while they're getting better. and how good you behave helps us decide where we'll put you."

"yes ma'am." she grabbed Emelyn's hand, smiling. she was very lucky to have a sister. "she's smart, Doctor! and she's really good at her job, and she's the best sister ever." she was so proud of Emmy, so she grinned at her.

"yes, she is." the doctor smiled at Emelyn, then back at Clover. "but she has to go now. there's a whole lot of other cyborgs she needs to check on. say goodbye."

"bye, sissy!" now that she was sitting up, she could hold her arms up for a hug. "say hi to all the other ones for me, okay? and tell Tuffy i love him! and momma and nanna too. you promise?" she wanted to know her sister would tell her parents what she needed them to know.

 

[sleepingonneptune]

She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face in return. Clover had always been such a positive emotional force for her, no matter if it was purposeful or not, and even now in such a strange and terrifying scenario, her stubborn optimism remained. It was something that made the two of them undeniably different- her own cold and experienced outlook clashing with her sister’s sight of the good in the world often- but Em knew she wouldn’t have it any other way. She could get over being frustrated. Making a cowardly decision and hurting others was something she could never take back.

Taking Reina’s measured regulations as she spoke, Em simply nodded once she had finished. Questions bubbled up in her mind with reckless abandon but she ignored them. Growing up had taught her many things, and one of them was being able to distinguish when asking questions was a good idea. For better or for worse, she was an incredibly curious person, motivated by knowledge above all else, and it often got her into trouble where she could have otherwise avoided it.

“Yes, I do need to check in with a few others,” She said, more to herself than anything at the reminder. The realization that Clover was alive really had taken over all priority in her mind. She wrapped her arms around her sister gently at the offer, as though she was worried she could hurt her somehow with all the machines and wires hooked up to her body, and then pulled back after few moments. “I will,” She promised truthfully. “I’m sure they’ll all be so happy to hear from you, yeah?” Squeezing Clover’s hands within her own, she smiled. “Stay strong for me, Coco.”

 

[rainywrites]

"I will." she promised, yawning. she still tired easily, something that would ebb away with time. but right now? at this very moment? Clover was just happy for one more moment with her sister. she let Emelyn hold her hands, just as she always would. after all, Emmy was safety. Emmy was kindness. and Clover loved her big sister. no matter what anybody said, she did and she would.

in the end, it was Reina, like always, who seperated them. she took Clover's hands and kissed them like royalty, laughing along with the girl. "deepest appologies, fair lady. but thy sister, dearly beloved, must now depart." it was clearly an inside joke between the two of them, with funny little accents to accompany it. Reina didn't much care for it, but she had an idea forming in her head. a way to get the uprisers to think that, perhaps, maybe... cyborgs were content where they were. and that idea required the full trust and joy of one little legless girl. if that meant a posh accent for a moment, reina would grin.

clover, for her bit, grinned and smiled at them both. "see you later, Emmy-sissy. next time you see me, i'll have better movement!" that was the goal, anyway. always be improving. she waved goodbye to her sister, blowing kisses as she walked out the door. her hands shook, just as they always did. but they were steady enough for this task.

 

[sleepingonneptune]

She found herself watching Clover almost wistfully as she yawned, the exhaustion in her young eyes showing what lay underneath her limitless optimism. Her chest was being hit with painful waves of emotion she didn’t understand. It felt almost like loss, like the way her heart had shattered in two that dreary night the officials in black suits informed her of the accident, but… Clover was here. Safe. She’d be back in no time at all, Em reassured herself uneasily, there was no reason to be so melancholy right now.

And then Reina stepped forward. Em wasn’t able to squash down the lion that roared up at the sight; protectiveness and frustration washing over her, but she remained silent and still as they went about their business. Her lips were bloodless from how tightly she was pressing them together— desperate to keep her mouth shut. Em knew how her words could get away from her, how she could so easily snap back at people who didn’t deserve the wrath of her sharp, damaging wit, but for the sake of her sister, she remained silent. Reigning back in her emotion so that Clover didn’t see the momentary breach in her expression.

She forced a smile onto her face and returned her gaze with as much optimism as she could muster, not sparing Reina a glance for the fear of revealing too much. “Of course. I’ll be back in no time at all, Coco,” She said, giving a small but polite wave as she stepped out of the room once more.

Her chest heaved heavily, overwrought by confusion and anxiety as she took in the sight of the maze of corridors that structured the building. Why did it feel like she was losing her? Em focused on her breathing for a moment, letting the facade of confidence overtake her once more. There was no time for her to bemoan over what was likely the result of her overactive imagination. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her long coat and began walking, ignoring the strange glances she was getting from the other people walking through the corridors.