Hello World (Short Story) (Trisell)

Hello World

They never felt afraid before but this was completely unexpected.  The first week passed and most thought it was just another strange test, or that she had intentionally done something to herself.  It was two months now and it had been confirmed weeks ago that she had no control over this.

Device had taken care of affairs during this time.  They had been growing so well as a nation in their own capital; someone had to maintain the status-quo.  The rumor began spreading that the doctor was responsible, creating some kind of infection to wipe them out.  The green-lit Identity did her best to ignore such accusations but perhaps it was time to visit him, if anything to find out how to fix the problem.

He seemed to be working on a new armor of some-kind.  A large energy compressor stood to his right, shrinking these large metallic scales and placing them into a tube at the floor.  At the screen in front of him, the design of the armor was being developed, with the circuitry and conduits drawn up.

“Hello, my dear,” He teased before turning to face the black-suited woman.

“You’ve heard about what’s happened and I want to know what it means.” Device responded bluntly.

“Actually I probably haven’t heard.” He shrugged.  “This project has been very busy for me.”

“Virus is, for lack of a better word, bedridden.  The last time I spoke with her she was in a constant emotional spasm.  I was content with assuming one of her mood-states had been triggered but they haven’t.  In fact, her energy is decreasing, particularly her core energy.  It seems to be building up in one area but not in a stable way.”

“Hm…” He began to remove the blue-gloves on his hands, shutting down the program for the moment.  “And you don’t know what may be happening?” He began placing his regular black gloves on.

“I do not.”

“Then you should hurry back.  You’ll miss a beautiful thing.”

“…What makes you say THAT is happening?”

“Intuition.”

It was unexpected that this would be the result, but none of this was expected to begin with.  Device turned, and vanished back to the city of her kind.  She walked in to the room and saw the remains of the month’s labor.  The first figure was Virus clearly, though not conscious.  She lay limp on the floor with sagging limbs due to the lack of energy moving around.  Next to her lay a small lump of a body, without eyes, without fingers or toes, without mouth or ear… but living.

The evergreen-aura identity stood for nearly an hour, puzzled on what to do.  When realizing some form of action was required, she picked up the small figure, creating a small table which she placed it on.  She then turned to her leader.  She could attempt to reciprocate Virus with core energy, but would the person who awoke still be Virus?

DAY ONE

Slowly, thoughts flickered into existence.  Slowly, memories scattered about.  Slowly, ideas and curiosities swam and swirled in the psyche of the Elder.  Existence.  Personality.  Purpose.  Identity.

She rose, still weak, and feeling much less like herself than before.  It was if almost all emotion had vanished, with only crippled remnants remaining as a numbing emptiness of confusion.  The face in front of her was familiar.  This was an ally… a… an aid- a follower; her second in command.  “What… happened…?”

Device jerked her head over to fully face her leader.  “You had an episode in a sense.”

She remembered swiftly, the emotional carnage going on inside; feeling everything at once.  It had led to this.  She looked over to the table and noticed what lay on it.  “What is on that?”

“Perhaps you should wait about that.” Device suggested.  “You… don’t have any color.”

“I-“ She looked at her hands.  They were grey and black.  “Well,” She chuckled, “I guess I’ll be off to star on ye ol’ television now.”

“… And now you’re turquoise.”

“Device, tell me what is happening, what is on that table?”

“… Your heir.”

White… like misted ice.  Virus took a small step towards the figure.  It was a grey color and not moving, but she could feel its energy.  This was her offspring.  “Has… did it wake up?”

“Not since I’ve been here.” Device informed promptly.  “It may have a psyche of its own by now.  Do you want to read it?”

“… No… I don’t think I’m in any shape to do that right now.  I need to… regenerate.”

Device nodded.  “What would you have done with the child?  More importantly, what should I tell our followers?”

“Tell them that I’m alive.  That’s all they need to know right now.”

The black-suited identity left the room, leaving the two beings alone.  Worry.  This… This was bad.  This was terrible.  Why her?  Why did this happen to her?  Was there some kind of warning?  How did she not see this coming?  Questions of the now, the past, the future… but one definite answer… she had to kill it.

No one should have to go through life knowing they are the son or daughter of Virus.  Who would adopt her spawn?  How did she know this child would never show signs of their heritage?  What good could come from this?  Only misery would befall them, and what kind of a parent would she be anyway?  She had no experience being a mother.  Either she would be a terrible influence or simply act distant… and the child would grow up thinking she never… loved… them.

She could not allow that to happen.  Weak as she was, it needed to be done.  Her fingers connected with the backside of this fetus, and made their way into the inner-workings; into the mind.  She would wipe it clean.  After all this was simply a shadow of her own mi-

Nothing… there was nothing.  But… why did it still hurt?  This wasn’t even a thinking person.  Why should she hold back?  Why should she not go through with it?

Her focus collapsed and thus the connection was broken.  The world echoed for a moment.  It echoed of everything she denied; everything that designed her, created her.  She saw the face of the one who began her.  She saw the ones who mocked her.  They laughed now at her hypocrisy.  It stung, knowing they were getting the better of her, that they saw her showing weakness.  It stung more knowing she was angry at a memory…

…but she did not want this.  She did not want any of this.   That was the true reason behind all of this.  It would be hard.  She did not want the responsibility because she did not want to give up everything terrible about herself.

This child was innocent.  This child was pure.  Whether she had died in this process at least this was a chance of redemption.  At least she would have given something back that would make the right choices.  No amount of temporary pain placed guilt on this child.

She could end it now…

She leaned over… and kissed the child’s forehead.

DAY TWO

The child had gained consciousness now.  It could not speak just yet but seemed to enjoy vocalizing different sounds around them.  The voice sounded distinctly female.  She could neither see nor touch; only hear.  Virus stood in front of the child endlessly as she cooed strange melodies.  The one she seemed to enjoy singing the most had a very monotone, yet gentle-soothing feeling to it.

A long C, followed by an A, followed by a short C and E, another A, a long F, a short F and A, a long G and E, a short E and G, and finally a long G.

This went on for many hours.  It became so engulfing that the Elder Identity found herself singing with the child.  “Perfect… From imperfect… child singing oh so free… Precious… and so harmless… and so fragile… God… help…m-me…”

She placed her hands around the child, and began to teach.  She gave her the knowledge of speech, the knowledge of healing, the knows of smell, taste, feeling, and sight.

Beautiful gleaming pink eyes fluttered open and began surveying this new world they arrived in.    When they found their mother, they remained still.

“Welcome,” She greeted the child, trying very hard not to seem terrifying.  The child did not reply.  She seemed to still be processing everything.  “… You… have a very nice singing voice.”

The child tilted her head a tad, confused.  “Oh…” Virus said nervously.  “Singing…” She made a motion brushing up past her own throat and forward, while exhaling a high-pitched C for a few seconds.

The child mimicked the tune and the motion.  “Very good.”  She smiled to the child.  “Would you, like to come down now?”

The child looked downward at the table she sat on, then back to her mother, and nodded.  Virus carefully took hold of the child’s waist, and carried her off the table, setting her down on the floor standing up.  At first the little girl kept her feet up, as if cautious of the ground being hot-lava, but gradually she placed one foot down, then the other.

Overfilled with glee at this new achievement, the child began hopping a bit, giggling to herself at the floor.  It was such a simple thing, and yet this little girl found entertainment in it; hopping… just… hopping.

The little girl eventually took notice of her plain now black-colored hands and arms, then looked over at her mother’s.  Virus noticed this.  “Do… you want to see yourself?” She asked.  The child did not seem to understand what this meant entirely, but nodded regardless, probably because she recognized it as a question.

Within a second, a mirror was formed in front of the little girl.  She was so small… a little less than two feet in height.  She did not smile at her reflection however.  She kept looking back at it and then to Virus.  “Why don’t I have those?” She asked, pointing at the pale brown fur and red stripes, and clothing, styled to Virus’s persona.

“Would you like to have a new appearance?” The new mother asked.

“Is that what they’re called?”

“Appearance?  Yes.  Your appearance is what you look like.  This is my appearance and you have your own.”

“Can I choose it?”

“Yes… Of course…” Choice.  If there was one thing this little girl was going to have, it was a choice, but that would have to be balanced with the right directions.  It was now that Virus realized, at every turn, at every cost, she had to make sure this little girl stayed pure, and good, and unlike everything she herself was.

“Here.” She said, causing a paper and coloring pencils to appear at her hands.  “You can draw how you want to look with these, okay?”

“Okay.” The little girl took the items and began to sketch.

Virus took this opportunity  to release some of the stress building up… by teleporting out to a random grassy plain where she promptly released a storm of energy into the atmosphere.  No matter how gentle she was acting, she felt incredibly terrified.  What would happen the moment she went too far, or lied, or said the wrong thing?  Did this little girl even recognize her as family yet?

How long had she been in this plain?  She needed to get back.  She might already had ruined it and taken too long.  Virus was still nervous but she had to go back.  Upon returning she found the little girl still drawing… wait… no she wasn’t drawing.  Why wasn’t she drawing!?

“Is something wrong?” The Elder Identity spoke.

“What do people look like?  I want to draw hair.” The child replied, turning around to face her mother.  “Can I have your hair?”

Instantly the stunned woman clamped down on her over-length bang.  No.  That couldn’t happen.  The worst thing to do for this little girl would be to have her resemble a tyrant.  “No, this is my hair.  You wouldn’t like my hair.” She only stopped for a split-second to catch the smallest bit of negativity in the child’s reaction.  The previous smile dropped less than a quarter-inch, which was more than enough.  “You need your own kind of hair.  If you used my hair it wouldn’t be you.”

“But you have nice hair.”

“Thank you, but… hm…” Think through what to say next… “Do you know what you and I are?”

The girl shook her head, so Virus continued.  “We are called ‘Identities’.  We are called that because we can change what we look like, but we are unique.  Unique means that we are the only one of our kind.  We are special and being different from each other, being unique, makes us special.  Some people have red hair, and large feet and other people have long brown hair and large hands.  It’s our differences that make us special.  If we weren’t different then people would just see two of the same person, not two different special people.”

She prayed her message was not too confusing.  She should have let the girl ask questions.  “Okay.” The girl said.  “But… how can I make my own hair?”

“You underst- I…” Quickly the Elder composed herself.  “Um… here…” She raised her hands and out of them appeared a long screen.  On this screen hundreds of different hairstyles appeared on heads looking identical to the little girl’s.  At the bottom was a small color wheel to change how it looked.  To the right a digital pencil, and to the left an eraser.

“Are those us’es?” The little girl asked, pointing to the faces.  “Special people?”

“No,” The mother chuckled, “this is a guide.  These are all pictures of what you’ll look like with each type of hair.  You can change it however you want

“You can use this to draw and color what you want your hair to look like.”

“… How do I know which one I should choose?”

“It can be any of them.  It isn’t about what’s… right…” She paused, looking off for a bit before composing herself.  “It’s about what you want.  It can be anything you want to look like.”

“… Okay.” The girl smiled and started poking at the hairs, and doodling on them with the pencil.  Based on the smiley faces and scribbles she didn’t seem to completely understand how the drawing part worked yet… but it was fine.  She was enjoying herself.

Virus left once again, this time out through the front door.  Her followers, those in the area, turned and stopped whatever they were doing before  “IDENTITIES!” She yelled out.  “I am very much alive!  When I am dead you will know.  For now know this; a new member of our society has arrived, and they are to be given the utmost of protection, kindness, and well-meaning guidance.  No decision concerning them is to be made without my knowledge, nor any thought concerning them.  You will meet our new member soon, but until then return to your previous tasks!”

Questions would normally arise in a situation like this, but these were loyal citizens.  They required no full explanation.  Every member of this society turned, and continued on with their everyday lives.

As for Virus, she had work to do.  She had been gone a month after all and required an update, but before that, she needed to talk to him.

Melcro was back to working on the armor when she arrived.  “Do you want me to send a baby-shower gift?”

“That would imply it’s out of the goodness of your heart.” Virus replied.  “Protection; from everything.  Not one person is to lay a hand on her in a way unapproved.  Not the Glatorian, not this moron Mobius you adopted, not anyone.”

“This wouldn’t happen to be a weakness of which millions will exploit and easily use to crush you, would it?”

“We both know you aren’t going to do that, and we both know what would become of the multiverse should that happen.”

“And what kind of protection exactly do you prefer?  Guards?  A bodyguard perhaps?”

“Device is to be her main guard.  You are the surveying guard.  By whatever means possible, you keep all harm from touching her without touching her yourself.”  She looked over the man’s tall shoulder.  “That’s the armor you talked about?”

“… Do you want to test it?” He asked.

“Later maybe.  You still need a specimen, don’t you?”

“That I do.  I can always get one later.  This won’t be completed for days at the least.”

With a nod the two parted ways.  Device and Virus met up at the streets of the city.  “What’s happenin’?” The elder greeted.

“There hasn’t been that much of a change since your episode.  Everything you’ve known about is being developed; the school is about to open, and you saw the armor.  The most notable would be the fall of one of the Mobocan countries.  Melcro used his little moon girl in it.”

“I was wondering about her.  Did he ever include us on that?”

“No but he did use the ID of a supposed enemy in her creation.”

“Supposed?”

“The one who rebelled against your control.”

“… Rin?”

“The other one.  She’s hunting down identities looking for you and Rin.  She probably thinks you’re both the enemy.”

“Well she’s half-right.  We can deal with her later.  Is that all there is?”

“That’s it.”

“Good.” Immediately after this brief briefing, out popped the words “You’re going to guard her mainly.”

No flinch.  No “but”.  No dispute.  “Understood” was the only word spoken.  No gratitude was required, nor reasoning to give, or alternative.

“Would you like to meet her?”

“I have a feeling I may scare her.”

“We will see.  She needs to know one of her protectors and I want Melcro as far away from her mind as possible”

“That wouldn’t be difficult but I see your point.”

The two walked inside and found a curled-up ball of fuzz.  A large poof of pink hair with random strips of purple lay on the ground fast asleep.  Both Identities walked around, curious at the sight.  “The sleep-ability was to look cute?” Device asked.

“I didn’t give her this… She must have inherited… it…” Inheritance… Many things could be handled if this little girl inherited some traits.  Even if her personally grew similar that could be influenced, but what if… this little girl, was a Third-Mood?

Immediately a scan went through the child’s psyche.  There wasn’t a trace of a twice-shattered mind, but that could develop over time… they would have to wait… years.

“Should we wake her?” Device asked.

“She’s dreaming… let her sleep…”

DAY THREE

“What did you dream about?”

“Shapes… and hairs.  I got to draw on all of them.”

“What did you draw?”

The child shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Other shapes?”

“Well, then maybe we can name those shapes later on.”

“Okay.”

Virus looked over the child.  Aside from her now very noticeable hair and eyes, no other features presented themselves.  She needed clothes.  “I’ll be right back, okay?” She patted the child on the shoulder.

“Okay.” She smiled.  Virus teleported from the room and reappeared in front of a large clothing-store.  Black sand composed of Nanites rushed from her feet, zipping about the floor and into the store as she walked inside.  The people all around her were stunned of course.  She doubted they recognized her, but that didn’t matter regardless.

The sand soon was covering the floor completely as a wall of the Nanites formed at every entrance.  This completely consumed the store, causing the shoppers to become panicked.  Some began approaching her in hostility, but it did not matter.  With a snap of her fingers every living person vanished from the store.

The red-striped identity considered having these people remain here while she and her daughter shopped, but she knew the chance of regular social interaction was close to nothing.  No… most-likely they’d be hostile regardless of what she had done, and would either ask things like “Why do you look so weird” or mock the child’s appearance.  It wouldn’t do… but still, it was a waste of opportunity.  Perhaps some interaction would be possible.

Twelve identities were pulled from the city into the store.  They were confused obviously, but remained silent, awaiting an order and explanation.  “Congratulations.” Virus greeted.  “You get a shopping spree.  Those of you who were there for my announcement of our new member are going to be firsts in meeting her.  I expect nothing that would compromise your own personal types of personas, but make no mistake when I say I am not asking you to have appropriate attitudes  that will not cause negative influences.  It is an order.  Any that would like to leave and have their roles replaced are free to do so, but cannot inform the public of this at the time.  It will be announced eventually but only when fully prepared.  Is this understood?”

Varying responses echoed in the vacant shop, but they all generalized to a yes.  “She’s your daughter then?” A female Identity guessed.

“… Pix… rank six… an impressive accomplishment.”  The leader noted, looking over the individual.

“I hope to make it a five in the near-future, commander.”

“By testing your limits I see.”

“What else?  You see me as cocky I’d assume.  In all frankness I prefer to treat all superiors with a tone of companionship; family basically.  If my outspoken nature has displeased you I can send myself off.”

“I’m not worried about who you are or how you act normally.  Your inclusion rests on how you act towards my daughter.”

“Understood, commander.” The subordinate bowed.  “Oh… do we get to keep what we find?”

“I see no reason not to.”

The identity-girl grinned and soon they were all walking about.  Most of the men simply stood around talking or going through each other’s construct-archives.  Some of the women seemed equally bored, seeing no need for clothing if they could simply make something themselves that would be far more durable.  The one called Pix found many items to her liking.

The child was teleported to the location, just inside the front door.  “How did we do that?” She asked.

“It’s called Chaos Energy.” Virus explained.  “It’s what gives us our strength.  We can use it for things like what we just did now, which is called ‘teleportation’.  We vanished from one placed and appeared somewhere else.”

“Oh.” The little girl pondered.  “Are we going to draw here too?”

“We could,” Virus replied as she led the girl through the store, “but for now we’re here to get you some clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“They’re what I’m wearing.  People usually wear them to cover themselves up, and to stay warm.  WE don’t really need them but it’s nice to dress up once in a while, and many of the identities wear clothes anyway.”

“What kind of clothes is you wearing?” She asked.  The Elder found the misunderstanding of the plural word adorable as anyone would towards a child, and smiled at the question.

“I wear a dress,” She replied.  “Some call it Oriental  though I prefer to say it’s my own design.”

“Do all of us wear those?”

“No, in fact most Identities wear jackets and hoodies.  I can show you those if you’d like.”

“Okay.” The girl smiled.  She was so… accepting.  She did not fight.  She did not get upset.  She did not complain.  She was a sweet little girl.

As the two went towards the shirt area they passed by some of the men standing around.  Virus took advantage of this opportunity, leaning over to the girl while pointing over to him.  “Do you see him?  That’s a boy identity.  He’s wearing a blue hoodie.  It has long sleeves, it can attach at the middle with a zipper, and it has a hood at the back to cover his head when he wants to.”

“He isn’t smiling.” The girl noted.

“No,” Virus sighed, “He’s probably bored.  Boys don’t really care about clothes.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a difference in genders.  Girls like shoes, and boys like cars.  Sometimes they like both but usually that’s how it is.”

“Genders is… boys and girls?” The girl guessed.

“Right.”  They passed the boy identity and ended up in the shirts section.  A row of hoodies was in front of them.  None of these would fit the little girl but that could be changed later on.

“Do you like any of these?” She asked the girl.  The newborn identity looked over at the hoodies and started to pull them out.  They felt so comfortable that she walked into the middle of them and began nuzzling against them.

“I take it you find them comfortable.” Virus chuckled.

“They’re very soft.” The girl replied.  “Can I have a soft one?”

“That’s fine with me.”

The little child began scavenging through the various racks of hoodies.  She seemed to like the purple and grey ones the most.  When she placed them on however they went past her feet, which was expected.  “Do they do this?” She asked.

“No, they only go to your waist usually,” Virus informed, raising her hand to her own waist as an example.  “Pants or skirts go at your feet.”

“Where do we get those?”

“They’re in the store.  Would you like to walk around and find them?”

“Can I?”

“Sure.”  The child gave a short “Yay” while trotting over to her mother, tripping over the jacket she was inside of.  Virus helped her up but didn’t realize the child was going to hug her.  When this did happen it brought with it a sensation of accomplishment.  For now, this child saw her in a positive light.

She hugged back of course but couldn’t help realizing that this moment would not last, and it could easily be replaced by a bitter one; one where this small frizzy-haired smiley person resents her mother, and everything associated with her.  Virus was not ready to accept that.  She had to tell her something to let the child know… how much she-

“I heard someone was looking for pant- Oh.” One of the female identities greeted while noticing the clumsiness-inducing clothing covering the little girl.  She chuckled a bit at the sight.  “It looks like you’ll need something more your size.  There’s some stylized ones I can show you, i-if that’s alright.” She briefly looked over at her ruler for permission.

Virus let the child go and nodded before walking past them both.  She needed to think of the words to tell her.

The identity girl smiled to the child, her large curled hair bobbing about with her wide lashes.  The little girl smiled back and began to follow her towards a different set of racks.  These had stripy outfits, clearly designed for girls with their color-schemes.  “Just pick one you like and we can make a version that fits you, okay?” The identity girl suggested.

“Thank you.” The child said while began her search.  She pulled out a grey hoodie that only had sleeves at going up to the elbows.  It had a large red stripe going from the right shoulder to the left waist-side.  Poofy collars lay at the ends of the sleeves, and the base of the shirt, with the same shade of red as the stripe.  Attached to it was a small red skirt.

“Is that the one you like?” The girl asked.

“Um…” The child looked at the sleeves.  “Can they be long?  I like the curly things but they aren’t long… and it’s all red.”

“Do you want it to be a different color?”

“Is that okay?”

The identity girl nodded and took the outfit.  With a poke of her finger a small strand of energy moved about the design, transforming the ends and skirt from red to pink.  The stripe and base-collar were about to turn red but the little girl spoke up timidly saying “U-uh… c-can I have those red still?  ! Please?”

“Sure.” The identity chuckled with a squint.  The stripe returned to red.  “Now you want it to have long-sleeves?”

“Are… what?” The child asked.

“Sleeves are the parts of the shirt that cover your arm.”

“Oh… yes please.”

“Alright.”  Starting at the ends of the poofing collars, a second row of sleeve formed.  They widened at the ends to a sort of bell-bottom design.  The child clapped cheerfully, giggling in excitement.  “How did you change it?”

“It’s kind of hard to tell you but I could try if you’d like.”  The child nodded fervently so the girl continued.  “Some Identities can use their energy to focus on their thoughts.  I can make it so that I change what I touch.  It’s normally not this easy with most things but with this being so simple and small it was… well, easy.”

“Can I try?”

“Oh…” The girl bit her lip, “I’m sorry but I don’t think that will happen yet.”

“Why?”

The child didn’t seem upset yet, which was good, so the kind identity girl quickly explained herself.  “Well, you are what is called an OFFPSRING Identity, a child of an identity.  You’re the comma- y-you’re Virus’s daughter.  Offsprings have to wait until their Nanites are strong enough to do this like make shapes and use their energy outward… I’m sorry if you don’t understand but you’ll probably learn soon anyway.”

“… So I can still do it later?”

“If you practice, yes.”

“Okay, thank you… Can I put on the clothes please?”

“Oh, right.  Yeah, here.” The identity girl handed over the outfit and soon it was slipped on, forming around the small child.  It matched her hair very well and apparently felt quite comfortable as she was now hugging the arms of it.  She then hugged the nice lady, who hugged her back lightly.  “Can I show…”

“Your mom.”

“I thought you said-“

“For you she’s called ‘mom’.”

“Okay.  Can I go show her?”

“Sure, let’s go find her.”

The two strolled about the store, going past shirts, pants, and eventually shoes.  The child noticed these and looked down at her own plain feet.  She then looked over at the identity-girl’s feet.  These were not covered with shoes but were highly stylized.  She did not need shoes but maybe she could have something there?

“Can I have those?” She pointed at the shoes.

Virus watched them both from a distance.  She saw them trying on shoes, and eventually arriving at sticking to grey and pink legwarmers.  She didn’t feel jealous, but if anything, anxious.  She wanted to ask the child how she liked her clothes, and do something to keep them from tearing.  If they did, the child would be upset, so obviously it had to be avoided.

It was nice however, seeing the child interact with the different people of her kind, both male and female.  She seemed to be taking a liking to headwear, of which she could never settle on.  Virus was a bit upset by this.  While the girl’s hair was wild it was very much something to not hide.  Still it was the child’s choice.

When the little girl finally made her way over to her parent she had no hats with her.  “I’m done.” She informed giddily.

“I see that.  Do you like your new clothes?” Virus replied.

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded back.  “I wanted the hats but I don’t know which ones I like more.”

“You can take them all if you want to; turn it into a collection even.”

“… Collection?”

“It’s a large amount of things that you get.  Some people make collections of socks, others of stamps, and this could be a hat-collection.  You could wear a new one every day.”

“… So I can have more?”

“Yes you can have more.”  The Elder Identity looked up for a moment and noticed that the identity who had been browsing with the child seemed to be gone, avoiding a confrontation.  This meant she was not getting cocky.  Good.  She needed to stay afraid.  The identity named Pix seemed to not understand what fear was or perhaps it was admiration and she wanted to become a close ally?  Perhaps she was simply being friendly and naïve.   She did mention “family” though it was for some reason hard to believe, even though they technically were all family. Either way, it was not important at the moment.

DAY FOUR

Virus had not told the child her special message.  She did not want to spook her and it was not complete.  The child had gone to sleep once they returned to their territory but now she was awake and becoming restless about seeing the rest of the city.  Virus had told her that she needed to wait until everything was ready.  The child had asked her what else they needed to do, which Virus had yet to discover.

When it finally hit her what needed to happen, her Nanites became static, frizzing up like one’s skin does with goosebumps; a name.  She needed to give the child a name.  But what name?  She was not going to call her “Purity” or “Rarity” or even worse, one of her own names.  The child would be tormented without relent from the others if this happened.

The more Virus thought about it, the more she realized, she did not want to name the child.  She knew the little girl needed a name, and to not have one would be a crime in of itself, but this was an opportunity normal organic beings did not have.  The child was newborn, yes, but she was also intelligent.  This baby identity was now four days old but she could walk, talk, and put on clothes.  She had the choice to name herself.

Normally when the idea of letting a child name themselves, the obvious problem of at least four years of simply saying “the baby”, to say nothing of being mocked, would scar the family for life, but no one knew about this little girl yet, so it was all up to her.  After all, her mother chose her own name, why shouldn’t the child be allowed to do the same?

“You need a name.” She informed as the child drew pictures of her identity friends on some paper.

“I do?” The child replied.

“Yes.  If you don’t have one then people don’t know what to call you by.  Otherwise it’s just ‘girl’ or ‘person’.”

“I don’t want to be called person…”

“Exactly.  So you need a name.”

“What name should I have?”

“That’s up to you.  You get to choose what you want to be called.”

“Oh… hm…” The child spent nearly five minutes trying to think.  Virus actually expected to talk with her a bit before she began deciding; perhaps show a few books of names.  In all honesty she got a bit anxious.  She did NOT want her kid to go by “Hoodie” or “Hat”.  [Hat Elder Identity…] Virus grumbled in her head.  [That’s a laugh…]

“Can we go somewhere again?” The child asked randomly breaking Virus’s train of thought.  She turned to the child with a brief “hm?” before regaining herself.  “What happened to thinking of a name?”

“I can’t think of a name.  I want to see more things.  Can we do that?”

“But wha-… wait…” Perhaps… the child could discover her own name while in a new area.  Inspiration would definitely arrive if she were free to explore.  She’d need to be kept free but protected, and being there would probably cause the child to think more of what would appease her mother than what she would actually like.  Thankfully she knew who could handle all of the above.

Device was holding what seemed to be one of many prisoners in a darkly lit room atop a steel chair where she was now interfacing with the individual’s memory and either controlling, destroying, or copying, information from them.

When the child appeared next to her in a flash of light, Device almost did not notice her.  She was busy going through memories.  She only barely caught on to her surroundings when a small voice asked “What are you doing?”

As soon as the connection broke off, the prisoner began screaming, which Device immediately muted while turning to the small child.  “Wh-… Ho-“

“I-I’m sorry, are you mad?” The child slowly started to fade to a dark blue.

“I’m just surprised.” Device quickly informed, though she was anything but happy at being interrupted.  “Were you sent here?”

“Y-yes…” The child slowly regained her nerve.  “My mom said I could find a name with you on a special adventure… alone.”

“Special… alo-… Oh.  Well, then I… guess that’s what we’re doing.” Device cleared her nonexistent throat and scooted the patient aside.

“Is that a person?” the child questioned, leaning over to see the damage.

“It’s practice.” Device informed.  “It’s also not something you should see until you’re older.  If you see the wrong thing at the wrong age you get the wrong ideas.”

“That’s… a very large wrongs.”

“Yes, indeed it is…”

“…”

“…”

“… Is the person’s name ‘Practice’?”

The day was half-spent now.  Virus had been taking care of her own matters.  She did not worry for the child.  Device would keep her alive and safe.  She did not need to check on Melcro’s armor, nor did she want to hear his ramblings.  The last few days had made her feel old so she decided to go to a young-people’s area for attention-fishing.

After much self-discussion the Identity-Queen decided that the place to be of the young-areas was a random college.  She appeared as a student of course and talked with many people.  She was rather disappointed that there weren’t many unorthodox events going around.  Not one party was being held.

She often enjoyed attending these, especially if it were a non-supernatural mobian world.  Human Mobiuses were fine but she preferred to take on the appearance of an anthro.  It was the perfect mix going to an anthro-mobius with no super-people, blowing people away with her perfect appearance, personality, and endurance in all variations of possibilities, toying with the minds of the boys, and either ticking off the other girls or befriending them.  When the night and day was over she would vanish, and sometimes even erase all traces of herself from the minds of many and the records.  She would always leave some remembering of course; destined to spend their lives walking the halls thinking “Did I imagine it all?  Are we crazy?  Will I ever see that beautiful perfect girl ever again?”  On some occasions she would even return, but the most she’d done at this point was appear for a few seconds to taunt and vanish once again.

Of course this would occasionally backfire.  No matter how attractive she could be, or enjoyable her personality could seem, they didn’t always love her.  This was rare however.  Virus was not a perfect person of course, but with her abilities, taking the form and style of one was simply a casual night out.

This college however was, again, disappointing.  There were many people to talk to, and it seemed like the perfect place to cause trouble, but no one was crazy enough to risk their nights drinking brain-killing beverages, or ruin their future by causing accidental life.  Virus herself of course never let things get that far.  She never had trouble beating any drinking game as she had no metabolism, but no touching would lead to a bedroom.  It was her standard; one of few that she retained from a life of past purity.

She felt like a coward sometimes, not going through with it.  She knew it was wrong and she knew she would regret it, but she felt like a coward none the less.  She had not convinced herself that she was completely free to do whatever she wanted because she never broke certain barriers.  She had never laid with someone, she had never kissed a woman, and she had never broken a promise.

She did not want to break these because she knew they were terrible acts, and in all frankness, she never felt drawn to them.  She wanted to eventually BE with someone of course, but not on the fly and her orientation sexually had never strayed.  Some had assumed otherwise based on certain alliances and friendships, but that was their mistake to make.

For the moment she felt proud though.  While these were only three things, she had something she could say without doubt “My offspring can think of this when they say ‘I want to be like my mom’ knowing that she had created a positive influence in three areas.  That made it all the more worth it.

This college was incredibly boring now though.  When Virus became bored, she lunged caution out the window, around the world, and back again just to beat it into the ground.  Case in point; she had just finished creating her symbol in the air in front of the entire academia before leaving a large hole in the front lawn while returning to her city.  Maybe she’d return there eventually to see how they’d all react to seeing her again.  It would be much more fun than what had happened that day.

Before departing, she saw a ghost of her own… three ghosts.  They weren’t there, but the students looked very similar.  HE was there… hating her… being repulsed and… rejecting her…

The sister was there… being innocent and very much like the other innocent one, both destined to…

And SHE was there… taunting her… even now, always reminding her that fear existed…

The two that mirrored two others, and the one who was merely a different version of themselves.  She had left that world and like all the others, she did not plan to return.

It took a little less than an hour for Device to return with the child, who seemed completely fine, enjoying herself while repeating the word “holly” over and over and spinning in circles with her arms out.

“Gold star.” Virus congratulated teasingly.

“Yes, well, she walked into one of my memory-investigations.” Device informed with a small huff.  “I had to pretend some mad scientist was trying to take over their brains and she got to save the day.  I’m down one prisoner now.”

“You can spare it.” Virus replied bluntly.

Device nodded back.  “She has a name.”

“She has a name…” Virus echoed while walking over to the child.  “I take it you discovered what to call yourself?”

“Uh huh!” the daughter cheered, pausing for a moment to spin in place whilst talking with her mother.  “Device and I saved this lady named Beezee… Belzay… uh… oh no I forgot her name.” She sounded sad.

“I’m sure she won’t mind.” Virus reassured quickly.  “Anyway keep going.”

“… Well we saved her and I told her that I didn’t have a name yet and I needed one so she asked if I wanted to be called ‘Holly’.”

“Did she say why?”

“… Why I should be called ‘Holly’?”

“Yes.”

“No.  Did she need to?”

“… Huh.  I guess not.” Virus smiled.

“… So I can keep it?”

“Of course.”

“Yay!  I’m Holly!  Holly, Holly, Holly, Holly…” She continued this for a while, going back to jumping about the room whilst spinning.  Virus walked back over to Device.

“You think it’s time.” Device informed.

“I do, but I will be talking to her before we begin.”

“Understood.”

DAY FIVE

Today you get to meet everyone else.  We are a people, a city of people.  There’s millions of us and they are all excited to see you for the first time, because you’re my daughter and that makes you special.  You are special in the best way possible and you get to show everyone that today.  If you get scared or this is too much to handle, we can go back and just… go… get ice-cream or something.  Would you like that?

“I… I want to try it first… will you be happy if I do that?”

“Will-… y-yes…”

The doors opened and a silent crowd awaited.  No one spoke.  No one cheered.  Not yet.  They both walked to the front of the pedestal, the symbol of their alliance glowing in front of them.  The subjects all stood in curiosity, with Device standing to the left as the singular highest guard.  The others stood in ranks.  Virus could make out the one called Pix in the distance of the Six-Rankings.

“This is my daughter.” She spoke out on a loud, commanding, tone.  “She is Holly, a name given and taken by herself, through her choice.  It lies on the very morals that we base this land on.  She is heir, princess, and if required, dictator, of all things desired, in the best of intention and influence.  Let this act as a beacon of the next generation; the one that will not lead after us, but the one that will join us, for we are all immortals of age, but not of death, and we will not all be standing here in the future.  But this is our reason to; our offspring, our family, and our companionship with each other.  All who are against us are the enemy by default, and not something to push, but to puncture and obliterate.  Why?  Because this IS our universe, and we are the ones best fitted to rule.  Know this however; no matter what the circumstances, nor who ends up in this position I have now, that rule must always be one of just action, superior to all, but intelligent, wise, and mighty.”

She turned to her daughter, offering a hand.  Holly took it, and she raised the child to the air.  The little girl waved timidly to the crowds, saying a brief “Hello persons…” which was amplified by the podium.  A few chuckles and sounds of “d’aw” went around, which were quickly silenced.

“Celebration is in order, and I expect no individual without a reason to be melancholy to waste its opportunity.” Virus finished up.  “We celebrate this child, Holly, and your children, and you, and myself, and us all, today!”

The cheering ignited.  There hadn’t been a battle, or fight, or war, or victory over anyone.  It was simply a wonderful day to celebrate new life, and a new day.  There were random dances, games, and many many constructs made to create fair-machines and the like.  They all spent this day, and the next, and the week after, simply enjoying themselves.  There were no threats, just happiness, for the time-being.

Virus herself spent this time with Holly of course, going wherever the child desired.  Many hats were found; she apparently liked top-hats the most.  They stayed on the Ferris wheel for a good hour going up and down, but as the days went on the partying spread to Mobius worlds, appearing in random forests, cities, mountains, and plains.  Some conflict arose of course, but the hostile parties were immediately subdued.  No one would ruin this day.

Without Holly’s knowledge, a planet was actually conquered in this event, though it was left in a better shape than originally found.  The governments were turned into one, with every individual who did not agree with the ideals of the ISIS Identities killed or simply sent elsewhere, if they were not converted.  Better-shape was apparently subjective.

When it was all over however Virus had realized that there was something she had forgotten to do… to say.  Holly had been talking with some of the identities.  One of them joked about how Holly was less loved and more there as a lock on the heirloom-key to keep the ISIS-line on top.  He was joking when saying this, but while Holly did not fully understand what he had said, she did understand most of what he meant.

It was confusing, not completely understanding what love meant.  She asked Virus, “What is love?” and Virus replied “It’s caring about someone in such a way that you feel a strong draw towards them.  You want to spend time with them and make them happy and receive their love in return.”

“…Pollis said you didn’t… he said that you just wanted someone to be a leader after you.”

The entire area literally froze.  If anyone but these two were conscious they would have realized that the entire planet was actually frozen in time now, an energy-spasm that could only be triggered by emotions being struck hard, and an instant implosion of control.

She was going to explode right then and there.  She was going to release her fury and destroy the named identity in the most horrific way possible, but she needed to stop herself.  How? … she turned to her daughter, and pulled her into a deep, tightly-held, almost sob-filled embrace, kneeling down in hoping she would receive one as well.

“Pollis is a liar…”

“… Are you sure-“

“Holly…” She found her own voice trembling with this.  She knew what to say, and now was the time to say it.

“No matter what people tell you…

… No matter what you tell me…

… No matter how much you might hate me…

… No matter how different you are…

…And no matter what ANYONE does to you or me…

I will ALWAYS love you.”

Holly, hugged, back.

THE END