Dreams

I’m woken up the next morning by the sound of the wind blowing against the window. It’s only a momentary gust that fades quickly into silence. The safehouse we’re staying at is still within the city’s wind shield. Venturing too far out into the suburbs would make us too easy to track.

A few years ago, the wind wouldn’t have bothered me at all. The sharp breezes that blow across Japan are nothing compared to the howling Siberian gales. On the battlefield, if I had let a noise like that bother me, I’d never get any sleep. Guess the fact that I woke up is a good sign that I’m starting to adjust better to civilian life.

“Big Bro…” Chiyo’s voice is so quiet that I can barely hear it. Sitting up, I peer through the dark and see Chiyo kneeling on the floor a meter away from me, dressed in flannel pajamas and hugging a pillow to her chest. Except it’s not Chiyo’s true robot body, or even the projection of the young woman she donned earlier. It’s Chiyo as she looked as a young girl, around seven or eight years old, complete with short, messy twintails and snot dripping from her nose.

I rub my eyes with the back of my arm, hoping to clear away any dreams I’m still seeing in my half-asleep state, but when I look again, she’s still there. “Hey, what—”

“I had a nightmare. Can I sleep in your futon with you?”

“Cut it out.” I deliver a soft karate chop to her head. Not to her projected head, but to where I suspect her invisible robot head is. Sure enough, my hand bumps into the plexiglass dome. “You’re not a kid anymore. Besides, can you still even have nightmares?”

The projection fades, and the robot shimmers into view. “Of course I can. I was sleeping when you found me, remember? My brain may be Xyrite now, but it works just the same as it did before.”

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I should have prepared a futon for you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She thumps her chest with one fingerless hand. “This body is super convenient. It doesn’t feel anything, but it can simulate whatever I want it to. When I was sleeping standing up, it felt like I was lying on one of those comfy-looking European beds.”

“Is that so? Sounds kinda nice. So, what’s all this about a nightmare?”

She places her hands in front of her body and looks away. If she still had fingers, I imagine she’d be touching them together. Maybe she is, in her mind, similar to phantom pain syndrome. “Ryuuzaki told me you know I’m not the original Chiyo.”

This isn’t really a conversation I want to have right now, so I attempt to change the subject. “You’re already on a first-name basis with the Hosokawa kid? You’re not dating, are you?”

“No way! I mean, how awkward would that be, dating a girl you know finds your father attractive? Although, maybe that’s not such a bad deal for me. I could have two hot, rich guys competing for my affection. Maybe that competition would even stretch into the bedroom… Gosh, what am I saying?” She brings her hands up to her face and makes crying noises. “I’m sorry, Big Bro. I don’t want to be such a dirty girl. I’ll try to be better. This is all Mr. Fujisaki’s fault!”

Even knowing she can’t feel it, I reach my hand up and rub the top of her head, just as I always used to do when she cried. “There, there. I know it’s not your fault.”

With an exaggerated sniffle, she stops crying and projects a smile on her face as I move my hand down to her cheek. “Does that mean you still love me? You won’t trade me for the original?”

I pull my hand away a bit too quickly, and her shoulders droop. “Is this what your nightmare was about?” I ask.

She nods. “I don’t want to go back to that lab. I want to stay with you. Now that I know you’re still alive, how can I ever trust Mr. Fujisaki again? I could handle all the terrible things they did to me as long as I believed it was for a good cause. Some of the others didn’t make it. Do you know how hard it is to watch yourself die, over and over?”

Unable to help myself, I wrap my arms around her back and pull her head onto my shoulders, holding her in a tight hug. “No, I don’t, but I know what it’s like to watch all my friends die while I survive.”

Maybe she can’t feel me, but I can feel her, and for now, that’s enough. She returns the hug, squeezing a bit too tight for comfort, but I endure it. We sit like that for what seems like hours, lost in our own thoughts. As the first rays of sunlight begin to filter through the windows, I gently push her away. There’s something I want to tell her, but if I say the words out loud, it will mean committing myself to a decision I’ve been putting off.

After deposing Hosokawa, what should I do next? I don’t believe a word of what Fujisaki says about being a patriot. He wants power, and even if the Chiyos he made aren’t really immortal, I’ve got no doubt he’s continuing his research, hoping to gain endless life for himself. But at the same time, his offer is tempting.

Sure, a world ruled by millions of clones of myself would be a shitty place, but the world is already a hellhole. The rich and powerful profit from endless war while poverty and famine run rampant. No matter what I do, that won’t change, so why not claim a slice of happiness for myself? The Hosokawa kid won’t like it, but if I could give my true sister a comfortable life, I’d have no regrets.

Except one. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I’m not going to let Fujisaki get his hands on you, but I can’t abandon the other Chiyos. Will you help me free them?”

“No way! I want Big Bro all to myself. I know the rest of them feel the same way. There can be only one. I will destroy the other Chiyos and absorb their power, so dote only on me.”

“Come on, be serious.” I ruffle her atop her head, where her hair would be if she had any. “You can’t possibly be jealous of yourself.”

“Hmph. I suppose I can help you out. So what’s the plan? I infiltrate FHI disguised as Mr. Fujisaki’s sexy secretary, with big, full lips and a neckline so low you can almost see all the goods. Then, when he’s working late at night, I begin by giving him a shoulder rub, and—”

“Wait just a minute. I don’t want you to do anything dangerous. I was just hoping you could get me in touch with that doctor who helped us escape from the lab. The one who told me the elevator was behind the wall.”

“Dr. Ito, huh? Do you have a thing for her? She’s got a big, round—I mean, I’ll see what I can do.”

From just outside the door, I hear the sound of someone tiptoeing down the hallway. My heart skips a beat. Have they found us? Did Hosokawa send assassins, kidnappers, or both? I don’t have time to put on my power suit, so I grab a combat knife I keep nearby. I creep to the door and slide it open a centimeter, so I can see outside.

It’s just the Hosokawa kid creeping toward the kitchen. Letting out a sigh of relief, I sheathe the knife and slide open the door. The kid jumps in surprise and spins to face me, pointing a large kitchen knife in my direction.

Now it makes sense why I woke up early. It wasn’t the sound of the wind; it was the sounds of someone trying to sneak up on me.

“Decided to betray me, eh, kid?”