The Hangar. 09:15 PM.
"No way!" Gamma shouted from the rooftop. It was another star-filled night. Cold air moved gently across the city. The wind was soft enough that every word carried clearly in the silence.
02 chuckled. "No need for that reaction. Yes, we fought two Behemoths. And for their era, they were extremely advanced." She leaned back on her hands. "They could split into five independent humanoid units. To destroy just one required two E-UNITs operating in full synchronization."
Pi spoke without emotion. "Embarrassing. You struggled against oversized human machinery. I don't understand why Father keeps calling you his best creation."
Beta scoffed. "That's what you say to first-generation prototypes to keep them competitive. Like when humans say personality matters more than beauty, they still choose beauty."
02 rolled her eyes. "We haven't tested any of you in a real battlefield. Simulations are controlled variables and closed environments for perfect outcomes." She glanced at Gamma and Beta. "And some of you didn't achieve those outcomes immediately."
Gamma groaned. "Captain… that was unnecessary."
Beta crossed her arms. "We are still adapting."
"And I can see your potential ceiling," 02 replied calmly. "Beta, the ability to manifest any weapon system at will using your internal matter stock. Gamma, speed so complete the world slows around you while you move at will through it." She smiled faintly. "Humans would build entire cinematic universes around powers like yours."
Pi grabbed 02's face and pulled it downward. "And me?"
02 lifted her slightly so they were eye-level. "Yours is statistically anomalous," she said. "And mildly terrifying." She set Pi back on her lap. "Are the sightings continuing?"
Gamma immediately sat up. "What sightings?!"
02 covered her left auditory sensor. "Lower your volume."
Pi answered, voice colder than usual. "I keep seeing the same sequence. Reaper locating us. The same red eye staring directly at me. In my visions I am frozen." She paused. "Normally I retain mobility inside predictive states. In this one, I cannot move. It begins and ends identically every time."
Her hands trembled slightly.
02 tightened her hold. "They are probabilistic forecasts, not certainties. You've stated before that external interference, even mine, can corrupt a prediction."
Pi suddenly grabbed 02's neck. "Stop diminishing my ability."
Beta intervened calmly. "Captain is correct. High-probability projections remain projections. Until convergence occurs, we cannot treat them as absolute."
Gamma swallowed. "But if that one becomes reality… we're finished!"
02 stood, lifting Pi with her. "You are worrying about hypothetical scenarios. If we operate in synchronized pairs, even a physics-manipulating entity like Reaper would face resistance."
Pi's expression darkened. "Father said Reaper has not activated Destruction Mode yet. We have not seen his maximum output."
Silence.
The wind grew louder.
02 adjusted Pi's position setting her down. "Stress hates efficiency. Until he locates us, preparation remains priority." She started toward the rooftop stairs. "And I still need Father to remove my limiter. I cannot even run at full speed. That if Pi's prediction ever seen the light."
Pi folded her arms. "I have calculated twenty ways to eliminate you during your sleep. Continue questioning my predictive accuracy, and I may test one."
02 laughed softly. "We do not sleep."
Pi lowered her gaze. "…Correct."
Beta stood. "Where are we going, Captain?"
"I want to observe Tau," 02 replied. "Duplication ability. I want to see multiple small Taus forming a miniature unit."
Gamma jumped up immediately. "We're coming! That sounds incredible!"
Beta followed without hesitation.
Pi remained still for a second, staring at the sky. "Future prediction is still superior," she muttered quietly.
02 smiled faintly and descended the stairs, the others following. Above them, the stars remained still. Pi was the last to look away.
Tau stood in the center of the room, eyes half-closed, receiving wireless updates. Thin lines of orange data pulsed faintly beneath her skin. Nick stood beside her, surrounded by floating screens. His fingers moved rapidly across a virtual keyboard. Lines of code scrolled at extreme speed. The sharp tapping sound was the only noise in the room.
Alpha and Delta leaned against the wall, visibly bored.
"F-Father?" Tau whispered, covering her mouth as usual. "Y-You m-messed up a-again. I l-lost focus o-on my lenses."
"Sorry," Nick sighed, not looking away from the screens. "Live updates. Minor recalibration delay. Nothing critical." He paused, frowning at one panel. "Your code was fragmented. Every time you experience anger spikes, your internal terminal corrupts. That should not be happening."
Delta straightened. "Why would anger affect the system?"
"I don't know," Nick admitted. "But I blocked terminal access entirely for now. Tau… why are you so angry lately?"
Tau's body glowed faint orange. "S-She stole my sister."
Nick closed the screens with a swipe. "She is your sister too. And technically the older one. Try to show basic respect."
Tau said nothing.
Nick rubbed his forehead. "She confronted me. And yes, I deserved most of it." He exhaled. "Ninety-five percent, at least."
Tau tilted her head. "W-What about the five percent?"
"The emotion-off toggle was not my decision," Nick said firmly. "I opposed it from the beginning. Even you, the G-Bots don't have that restriction. Reaper having it was… an error in judgment."
Alpha slid slowly down the wall. "Fatheeer… enough speeches. Show us the duplication."
Nick smiled despite himself. He stepped back. A yellow circle marked the testing area on the floor. "Everything is stable," he said. "Tau, on my mark."
The door slid open. 02 entered first, holding Pi. Beta followed. Gamma was already scanning the room with excitement.
"So you were all numbers?!" Gamma asked.
"Yes," 02 replied calmly, taking her usual chair. "It becomes natural."
Beta leaned back on the second chair. "Mission briefings must've been chaos," she started mimicking 02. "'06 take 04 and 08, 01 and 09 are compromised, deploy 13 and 03.' You'd need a second processor just to remember who is who."
02 laughed. "From the outside, yes. From inside? Routine--"
Pi placed a hand over 02's mouth. "Captain. Silence. Tau is concentrating."
Tau swallowed. "F-Father… y-you were saying?"
Nick adjusted his posture. "On my mark. Imagine yourself as a cell. Cells do one thing exceptionally well."
"D-Duplicate," Tau whispered, closing her eyes.
"Exactly. Only once."
"O-Okay."
"Now."
Next to Tau, space shimmered.
A silhouette began forming from the ground upward, slowly filling like a glass receiving orange liquid. Orange light climbed through the outline, shaping limbs, torso, neck. The suit formed next, white and orange plating. Facial structure appeared. Hair sharpened into detail.
Within seconds, an identical Tau stood beside the original.
Emotionless.
Nick stepped closer, examining every angle. The replication was flawless. Microscopic symmetry. Structural density matched perfectly. He dropped to his knees, stunned. "That's perfect. First attempt." He remembered to breath. "She's venting ultra-dense matter inside her and rewriting it on the fly to match her own successfully. A perfect, physical clone."
Alpha's jaw opened. Delta stepped forward for a clearer view. Gamma and Beta stared in disbelief.
02 murmured quietly, "That's indistinguishable from magic."
The copy's eyes turned red.
Nick turned toward the original Tau. "That was extraordinary—"
"T-Thank you, F-Father!" Tau said, face flushed. "B-But I can't control her. I'm t-trying…" She focused intensely. The copy's fingers twitched slightly. "S-See?"
Nick stood. "That's fine. You already moved her hand. With training—"
The copy began walking. Slow, calculated steps. Minor mechanical hiccups, but stable.
Nick followed it, analyzing. "Good. Maintain control."
"That's n-not me!" Tau shouted suddenly. "I'm n-not controlling it!"
Nick froze.
"What?"
The copy turned toward 02. Then it sprinted. Metallic steps echoed violently.
"02! Run!" Tau screamed.
02 stood instantly. "Stop your duplicate!"
"I c-can't!"
The copy reached her and threw a punch. 02 caught the strike and redirected it, throwing the copy against the wall. The impact was heavy but controlled, her limiter prevented full-force output.
The copy recovered and charged again.
Beta stepped forward. "I'll assist."
A sniper rifle formed in her hands within seconds.
She aimed.
The copy detected the threat and began moving erratically, zigzagging, changing vectors unpredictably.
"I can't stabilize the aim!" Beta shouted.
The copy leapt toward 02 again.
Clang.
02 delivered a precise kick, sending it sliding across the room.
"Beta! Rifle!"
"Roger!" Beta tossed it.
02 caught the sniper mid-air, dropped to one knee, one eye closed. The copy landed and resumed chaotic motion patterns.
02 smirked slightly. "I am accustomed to human combat behavior," she said calmly. "Your movement is algorithmic."
She tracked its predictive vector.
Bang.
A devastating laser shot fired, the recoil slammed into 02's shoulder, the sound was surprisingly suppressed.
The shot landed exactly where the copy would be, not where it was. The bullet struck the Tau emblem on its chest. The duplicate collapsed. Its body dissolved into orange particles, fading from top to bottom, the reverse of its formation, matter returning to the original Tau.
Silence returned.
Gamma jumped onto 02's back. "Captain! That was perfect!"
02 stood, recalibrating. "Thank you."
She looked toward Tau.
Tau stood frozen, trembling. 02 recognized the truth instantly. The anger spikes. The corrupted terminal. The red eyes shifting slowly to blue at that moment. Tau had been in control the entire time.