A Bio-Weapon’s Rhapsody-Chapter 242: Ale is… not Alexa’s sister? The hell?
The next minute or so was spent with Ale, Miriam Eversoul and Vivian Kellet looking at each other. Well Vivian Kellet also spent some time watching the floating blue screens that showed Ale's vitals.
Since that was data that was exposed to the world, Ale made sure to keep her vital signs within what would be expected of someone in her current circumstances. That is to say, she wasn't tampering with her vitals and letting her body react accordingly.
She was, of course, able to manipulate her pulse, breathing, and body temperature, be it by manually tweaking the correct parts that ruled over those parts of her body, or by manually introducing foreign elements that served to temper and tweak the parts of the body.
By controlling the speed of her blood flow and the density of her veins Ale could control her pulse and blood pressure. By manipulating the density of O2 and how much she needed she could control her breathing, and by manipulating the amount of water within her body and the core temperature of her body she could tweek the readings of her body temperature.
So yeah, Ale had full control of those.
And she could see the readings in front of Vivian Kellet, that made her heart leap and her pulse to rise for a second, the arched eyebrow that Vivian Kellet sent her way made her remember that she was not Alexa. She was not protected by those weird casualties, so she took a deep breath and calmed herself down.
This was nothing new, she always was aware that her vitals were tracked, her own body armor had the same function, and that data was sent to [Elder], so this wasn't something new.
"Ah right, since we have you here. Would you allow me to get some readings from you too?" Vivian Kellet said as she seemed to remember something. Ale had seen the whole ordeal, what tests they had done to Alexa, what scans they had taken.
It wasn't that different to what P4 had gone through, the only difference was that they were more careful, and the equipment seemed less... patched up.
"Sure," Ale said nodding, "Do you want blood samples again? They will be roughly the same as what you got from Alexa."
"...Those aren't really needed," Vivian Kellet said, but after thinking for a few seconds she added, "But better safe than sorry, we aren't aware of what method you and Alexa use to swap."
And in the end, decided to take a blood sample nevertheless. Ale quickly commanded all her Nanites to return to the nanite factories set up around her body and hoped the MK1 Nanites wouldn't let themselves be caught.
They hadn't been caught before when they took samples from Alexa, but again. Ale wasn't under the same protections as Alexa, this she knew.
"Go ahead then," Ale said extending her left arm. They had been taking samples from that hand in Alexa's case.
"This one will do," But Vivian Kellet took the right arm, "The other has enough puncture wounds already."
And without much preamble, Vivian Kellet used a weird machine to take the blood sample from Ale, the machine was kind of like a mechanical bracer that settled around her arm.
"Why didn't you use this before?" Ale asked as she felt a slight pinch on her skin, if not for her full body control she wouldn't have noticed it. She could accurately feel the blood flowing out of her body...
And for some reason she felt lightheaded.
"We noticed that not many people like the feeling," Vivian Kellet said as the machine started to fill vials set up around the external part of the mechanical bracer.
Ale's blood was pooling slowly on them. Filling them till it left around a fourth of the vial empty.
"Some adult and teenager testers said that while they didn't feel any discomfort from the pinch, they felt lightheaded when the machine started taking the samples." Vivian Kellet said as Ale started to feel the room spin, "We theorize it has something to do with the mechanical feeling and..."
*Fade to black*
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Ale wasn't sure about what happened next, she got the rough idea that she was lying down in a bed, not a very comfortable bed, but it was a bed nevertheless.
"...Did you know that would happen?" The voice at the back said, Ale didn't open her eyes, nor move.
What she did was manipulate the nanites within her body to make sure to regulate her vital signs. She quickly dove into the log about her own vitals kept by her own system and ensured that the vital signs were within the range that they had been in the last... hour?
She had been unconscious for one hour?!?!?!
"I suspected that could happen." Vivian Kellet answered, Ale now that was more aware could identify the voices. "That is why I used that; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to keep her like this long enough for a full-body MRI."
MRI?
"[MRI = Magnetic Resonance imaging, a medical diagnosis procedure that uses strong radio waves generated from magnets to create a highly detailed three dimensional picture of a subject.]"
There was a definition about it stored within the database, but Ale didn't remember P4 ever going through this procedure...
"[Warning, this procedure involves the use of strong magnets to generate the radio waves, as such, any metalic component within the body can cause heavily body harm.]"
Ale felt that if she wasn't controlling how her body reacted and moved, she would have her pulse and breathing reach sky-high numbers.
"So what did we get after terrorizing a little girl into fainting?" Miriam Eversoul asked as Ale heard the machine slowly power down.
"We didn't terrorize her much, as knock her down, the machine was calibrated with a sedative, so after taking the blood sample she was anesthetized." Vivian Kellet pointed.
Ale frowned (Inwardly) as she made a check on her own body conditions. And sure enough, the nanites within her bloodstream had found the signs of a chemical anesthetic.
Since she had recalled them all, the chemical had been enough to knock her out. Then perhaps the nanites had restarted by themselves after Ale didn't give any orders?
That or her body was more sturdy than she gave it credit for.
"For starters, we found that this girl. It isn't a grown-up version of Alexa." Vivian Kellet started speaking, how was Ale even hearing this?
"[I am transmitting their conversation since you have regained consciousness Mistress.]"
Ale half wondered why Main Core was acting like this, only to remember where she was.
"Albireo?"
Ale asked inwardly.
"[Yes, I took the liberty of waking up your Nanites to allow them to fix your unconscious state. As it was deemed that this test was enough to satisfy the curiosity of Vivian Kellet and Miriam Eversoul.]"
The artificial intelligence answered.
That was worrying, somehow this entity had managed to wake up Ale's nanites? How?
Was the attempt at interference enough to make them wake up? No. If that was, then the nanites would have attacked the entity, and Ale wouldn't be talking to it. Then was it because it was affiliated with the Saintsworths?
Ale needed to investigate this too, there was too many things to check on! And not enough time!
"What do you mean?" But for now, Ale focused on the conversation that was happening in another room.
"Can you provide visuals?"
Not forgetting to ask for that of course.
"[At once]"
Then there it was, the image from the cameras of the black haired woman (Miriam Eversoul) and the blue-haired cold woman (Vivian Kellet).
"This was the passive superficial scan we got from Alexa, it isn't as complete as the one provided by the MRI machine, but you can see that there aren't issues." Vivian Kellet said, showcasing once more the blueprint of Alexa. "And this one is from Ale, both passive and the MRI scan."
Then besides it, Ale's body was showcased. It was bigger and the scan was more complete compared to Alexa's one.
Ale didn't see any issues in her own body; she knew her own body better than whatever this machine could show...
"Ale has a few changes that aren't in Alexa," Vivian Kellet manipulated her blue screen to highlight some things in Ale, "She has a few blank spots in her body, here, here and here."
The spots highlighted... they were the spots that Ale had set up her Nanite factories.
"Judging by the size and location, they may be AI Cores. But the amount...She has seven, I hadn't seen anyone with that many AI Cores, there isn't a good reason for her to have this many..." Vivian Kellet sighed, "Not any peaceful one anyway."
"...Oh god..." Miriam Eversoul covered her mouth as the nanite factories were highlighted one by one.
"These four are obvious what they are for," Vivian Kellet said as she highlighted the nanite factories in her arms and legs. "But these three are the ones I worry for the most...One in her abdomen, one in her heart and the last one in her head..."
"Why...why would they even need one on her heart and head?" Miriam Eversoul said closing her eyes, "Unless..."
"Killswitchs, obviously. At least the heart and brain one, the one in her abdomen may be the main control unit." Vivian Kellet stated.
That was not the reason, the one in her head was to help fix any wound that affected her brain, as that was the main processing unit that she was using at the moment. The one on her heart was for the same reason, since blood was the way she was using to distribute the nanites in her body, any wound to that organ would be critical. As for the abdomen one, well, she just wanted a quick and efficient way to dispose of the biomass that they acquired.
So of course they had put one near the stomach, Alexa had a similar design. Only that she wasn't able to keep control of as many nanite factories. So she only had four compared to the seven of Alexa.
She was, however, not inclined to fall into combat as easily as Ale, so she didn't need the combat ones as much. So Alexa merely had them distributed around the body without much thought.
"That is not all." Vivian Kellet continued after a few seconds of silence.
"THERE IS MORE?!?!?" And Miriam Eversoul screamed back surprised.
"Yes," Vivian Kellet then highlighted other points in Ale's body, "These."
"What about those?" Miriam Eversoul said as she focused in the highlighted areas, Ale didn't see any issues, "Are those...stress wounds?"
"Yes," Vivian Kellet nodded.
What was the problem with those? Ale had made sure her body was in perfect condition and conditioned her to the best, of course, she had tested the limits and ensured the current blueprint was the peak of efficiency. Some stress wounds were obvious to pop up here and there.
"Remember? Alexa doesn't have these; her body is in perfect condition." Vivian Kellet pointed to Alexa's blueprint, "But this one? Ale she said was her name? She has all the hallmarks I expect a normal teenager to have. Scraps on her arms, small microfissures in her legs from whenever she fell while running around. Evidence of muscle being formed. She has evidence of actually growing up."
"...." Miriam Eversoul turned to look at the blueprint as if it had grown a third eye.
Rude.
"The blood sample is also problematic," Vivian Kellet continued moving forward, "The genetic pool is... different, if I hadn't seen it myself... I would think you picked someone from the same clan, but not family. This girl... her genetic markers... I would think this girl was either a cousin or a relative, not the same person."
...Ale didn't share the same genetic code? That... was not that weird was it? Ale's blueprint was inferred using an image and not used from the database that Main Core had; this was made artificially and merely given a look similar to what Alexa had.
"But they are the same person." Miriam Eversoul stated, "Perhaps... Alexa had more family and adopted someone..."
"That would be more problematic even, as it would imply that Alexanders Saintsworths had more than one relative who was kidnapped. One can be excused, more?" Vivian Kellet said shaking her head, "Thaddeus would not allow it."
Right... Alexanders father. Ale had not read much about him, there was enough information about Alexanders on the internet, more than enough, enough that she could make whole two to four hours streams where she made stupid hillarious theories about how he was an actual dragon.
But she hadn't found more about his family, even the data that she could glean from their private server wasn't of help. Ale could find the names of a few Saintsworths, but nothing that would allow her to find them on the normal net.
"Right..." Miriam Eversoul said nodding in acknowledgedment. "Then... Do you think the real main persona is Ale?"
"Hard to tell," Vivian Kellet said, "From a geneticist point of view, from a researcher point of view... from a Humanist point of view... The only real person would be Alexa."
"But you said that she doesn't have all the markers of a normal human?" Miriam Eversoul said confused, "How can she be the original?"
"She is closest to the perfect human," Vivian Kellet shrugged, "From my point of view, Alexa is closer to what we should be. Her body is what all my research is aiming to become, not something flawed."
...Rude, the other one also was rude.
"... And to think she looks so calm and is sleeping so peacefully..." Miriam Eversoul said placing a hand on the monitor that showcased Ale, "How long will she be like that? And... how much do you think we should tell her?"
"The anesthetic agent should be leaving her bloodstream, but I never used it in this way in children; a normal adult would have woken up half an hour ago. So I guess she should be waking within ten to fifteen minutes." Vivian Kellet answered checking her watch, why was she even doing that if she had a clock in one of the blue screens? "As for how much to tell her... If her Core Power allows the manipulation of her form, she probably is aware of all that is going through her body better than what these machines could say."
That was true.
"So she knows... She knows that her body is..." Miriam Eversoul said turning to the screens.
"The perfect blueprint to create a humanoid weapon?" Vivian Kellet said it for her, "Probably... She is the wet dream of all the Saintsworths weapon meisters. With AI Cores already embedded... She could probably interface with weaponry that requires onboard AI. Reduce the need for computers within the cutting-edge weaponry that they make. Hell, she could probably remove the need for half the weight that goes into the exosuits we are making."
"...They can never find out." Miriam Eversoul said as her eyes turned to glare at Ale... or not, she glared at the camera. "... Can you ensure Albireo doesn't leak it?"
"No," Vivian Kellet stated, "Albireo, mark this data at the highest clearance level possible, reason: It is linked to my research and is the ultimate goal that I can achieve."
"I also will use my authority to reinforce that," Miriam Eversoul said afterward, "Reason being, this can be used to advance my research and to fulfill the contract that I signed when joining."
"[Acknowledged, given the circunstances. If this data ever reaches the Main Saintsworths database, it will be only read by the Administrator and Super USER.]"
"Good," Vivian Kellet said.
Ale took this chance to start slowly making it look as if she was waking up.
"She is waking up, start to think what you want to do with that kid." Vivian Kellet turned to Miriam Eversoul, the data stored within the devices slowly being deleted, "Be it return her to Ohio... Or keeping her. Even if it means getting more at odds with Alexanders."
"I know." Miriam Eversoul answered sighing, "I don't want to give him more reasons to turn my way."
Chapter 242: Ale is… not Alexa’s sister? The hell?
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