Chapter Text
Red eyes, framed by white hair and pale skin.
The feeling of cold metal under her hands.
Cool air brushing against her face, moved by a large ventilation outlet right above her, the whirring slowly pulling her back into the moment.
Ariane blinked slowly, her reflection in the mirror doing the same. Then, she jerked back, letting go of the sink at the same time. The dull thumping of heavy boots against cold tile sounded throughout the room as the girl looked around.
“W-What?”
Her eyes looked around rapidly, scanning the entire room around her. She was in a bathroom - a quite large one at that, with multiple stalls just behind her and a whole row of sinks in front of her, all with an identical mirror above it that reflected her panic gaze back at her.
She was wearing a uniform, though she was pretty sure it was not a military one. She stepped forward and into the light to get a better look at herself in the mirror, scanning her whole body.
Her hair was done up in a way that she wasn’t familiar with - it was longer than she remembered tied back into a tight ponytail which hung all the way down to her shoulders. The uniform she was wearing shone with a pristine shade of white, boasting almost mint-green highlights and an insignia that she was entirely unfamiliar with.
Slowly, Ariane stepped back, feeling the fabric on her skin. It felt strangely cold, though that was probably because of the temperature of the room around her.
“Ellie?”
Her voice sounded quiet in the large room, far more hesitant and scared than she wanted it to.
There was no answer.
Ariane swallowed hard, running her hands along her body in an attempt to find out what was going on. She felt like she had forgotten something, some way that she could have ended up here, and so her best hope was to hope that she had something, anything on her that would give her a hint as to where she was and why she was there.
After what felt like minutes, her fingers finally found something in a small breast pocket - a plastic ID card, to be exact.
“Ariane Yeong-Itou, AEON medical & pharmaceutics department.”
Ariane read the words out loud, her eyebrows furrowing as she did so. That… didn’t sound right. She wasn’t with AEON’s medical department, she was…
She… was…
The woman blinked, blanking on such a simple topic. She was someone important, but… what was her job again? She wasn’t with the military anymore, was she? No, she couldn’t have been - not after…
Her mind stuttered again, her train of thought screeching to a halt as she tried to remember. She was forgetting something - a lot of things, probably - but her mind was entirely unwilling to collaborate with her.
Still, she knew one thing: Something was seriously off about this whole thing. The only aspect of the card that didn’t feel out of place was the name - that part instinctively felt right to Ariane, even if the rest of the small piece of plastic seemed… less than trustworthy.
For now, she would have to work with what she had, however. First, she had to leave the toilets and see where she was. She involuntarily reached up and fixed her collar - a habit from her time in the army - before stepping outside.
The room outside of the toilets was large and clearly some sort of main entrance judging by the large elevator she could see behind a metal mesh opposite of her. She quickly looked around, a strange symbol emblazoned on a nearby wall caught her attention.
It was a triangle consisting of other, smaller triangles. On closer inspection, the smaller triangles were also made up of smaller ones, and those of even smaller ones… Unto infinity, as Ariane had to presume.
“AEON facility S23- Sierpinski” was written underneath in large, white letters. The name felt uncomfortably familiar, though Ariane couldn’t quite place where she knew it from.
“Ah, director Yeong-Itou, are you feeling better now?”
Ariane almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of a voice coming from her right, but she barely managed to keep her composure, turning around to see who had spoken to her.
There, behind a thin pane of glass, two blue eyes looked back at her. It took Ariane a second to realize that she was looking at an Eule-type Replika unit, but the realization immediately calmed her down. Eules were not a danger to her, she was pretty sure.
… Director ? Was that what the woman had just called her?
“I… Yes, I’m ok, I just had to step away for a second.”
The Eule nodded.
“Oh I get that - space flight is tough on Gestalts, and I imagine you must be nervous too.”
What a loaded statement that was. It immediately told Ariane a few things. Firstly, that she had just arrived at whatever place Sierpinski was. Secondly, that she had arrived via spaceship, which meant that Sierpinski was most likely on a planet she only seldom visited. Thirdly, that she had something to be nervous about. That last part was the most distressing, of course.
Ariane slowly wandered over to the reception area that the Eule was sitting in, leaning on the counter slightly as she arrived.
“Right, yeah. Thank you for your patience.”
“Oh, it’s no issue. I used the time to check on where your wife is being kept, actually.”
A shiver ran down Ariane’s spine. Ellie. She was there, being “kept” somewhere in the facility. Had Ariane come to save her from this place? Was this some kind of prison?
“And?”
She forced the word out through gritted teeth, keeping all the other questions she wanted to pose at bay.
“Oh, she’s down in the administrative sector with the directorial staff, since she is a VIP. After all, the wife of the AEON medical department director only deserves our best service!”
The statement hit Ariane like a sledgehammer over the skull, sending her thoughts flying in circles. She was the director of a whole department… without remembering any of it? How was that even possible? How did she lose her memories like this?
“How is she… doing?”
Ariane wiped some sweat off of her brow - she felt hot, no doubt because of her nerves.
“Oh, she’s doing well! I checked her patient records and everything seems to be progressing wonderfully so far. Really, a picture-perfect example of health.”
The words “patient” and “progressing” made Ariane’s thoughts stop whirling around wildly, instead focusing on what they may mean. So, Sierpinski was some kind of medical facility, and Ellie was sent here to presumably undergo some kind of procedure. The fact that she was given this information freely calmed her down as well, though only slightly.
“Can I see her?”
The Eule immediately nodded.
“Oh, of course. It will be a bit of a trek through the facility though, so I’ll need to ensure that you can get around fine.”
She paused briefly.
“Hmm… Actually, would you mind if I accompany you on the first part of the way? I need to stretch my legs a bit, and we have no scheduled arrivals for the rest of the day.”
Ariane blinked, crossing her arms. Was the Replika trying to keep her surveilled? It… didn’t feel that way, but could Ariane really be sure?
“...Sure, if you want to.”
“Oh, thank you. I would have had to do some stretches otherwise, and those are a pain… Please, go through the door on the right and I’ll be with you shortly.”
Ariane followed the Replika’s instructions, going through the nearby door which automatically opened right in front of her with a quiet hiss. The hallway beyond was painted off-white, though the material was very clearly the same metal that all AEON facilities were made of.
The white-haired girl let her eyes wander over the walls, noting lines of different colors running along them at about the height of her eyes. A bit further down the hall, she could see words just above the lines, each mimicking the colors of one of the lines respectively.
“Wings of a medical facility…”
Ariane was mumbling to herself, her hands behind her back as she waited for the Eule to arrive. What was taking the Replika so long, though? The reception was right next to the hallway too - maybe she had gotten stuck preparing something?
As if on command, Ariane heard a nearby door hiss open, followed by the sound of the Eule’s voice.
“Here we are! Sorry, I’m not quite as fast as I used to be…”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t wait for l-”
Ariane turned around as she spoke the words, intending to calm the Eule down… However, as soon as she had turned around fully, she felt the words get stuck in her throat as the Replika came into view.
The Eule was, by all rights, rather normal-looking for the most part. She had the same face, hairstyle and coloring as other Replikas of the same type that Ariane knew, though there was a very large, notable difference.
All Replikas were made to look fit and trim as far as Ariane knew, with generally lithe and thin figures. This Eule was… different. Her belly bulged outwards, looking heavy and… firm, forcing the Replika to press one of her hands onto her side to stabilize herself while the other ran calming circles around the distended surface of her midsection.
She looked… pregnant?
“Director? Is everything ok?”
The Replika’s question snapped Ariane back to reality, her brain scrambling to come up with a good answer.
“Y-Yes, I was just wondering if you are doing alright.”
The Eule gave a small smile, affectionately patting the side of her belly.
“Oh, because of this? Don’t worry director, I am an experienced mom.”
She paused briefly.
“Though today is my last day before maternity leave, since I could pop any day now.”
Ariane’s mind was still grappling with the impossible fact that the woman before her was seemingly really pregnant - something that should not be possible for a Replika - and pretending like it was a completely normal, everyday occurrence.
And… “experienced mom”?
“I… See. And you are s-sure that you’ll be ok?”
The Eule nodded excitedly.
“Of course! I know my own body, don’t I? Besides, I wouldn’t miss showing you around even if my water broke right now.”
She grinned, waddling over to Ariane and grabbing her by the arm.
“After all, it’s you that we have to thank for all of this. And I don’t just mean us here at the Sierpinski maternity & fertility clinic, but all Replikas!”
Before Ariane could say anything, she felt the Eule tug at her with such a force that she had no choice but to take a step forward, followed by another and another until her body had begun moving by itself, all the while her head spun with all the information she had just received.
“So, I’m on my fourth baby.”
The Eule seemed entirely unbothered by the fact that Ariane was having a silent mental breakdown, cheerfully blubbering away.
“But this is the first that we’re gonna keep - the rest were surrogacy assignments back when we had to show that the procedure was safe.”
The white-haired girl nodded automatically, her brain slowly coming to terms with the fact that, somehow, she had invented a procedure that allowed Replikas to get pregnant. Had she designed an artificial womb too, then? Or was that someone else, while she only continued their work?
It didn’t really matter, and so Ariane shooed the thought away.
“How did that go?”
She forced herself to calm down a tad, not wanting to tip the Eule off to the fact that she had no idea what was going on. The Replika clearly believed that Ariane was somehow in the picture about all this, and the Gestalt was afraid that telling her that she had no idea what was going on would have… adverse side effects.
“Oh, people are still a little apprehensive about it, but we’ve made leaps and bounds in the public relations department of things. We are still mainly frequented by Gestalts of course, but we have had an uptick of Replika clients as well, though only as of recent.”
The Eule hissed slightly, stopping and exhaling deeply. Ariane turned around, automatically worried. She had no idea what she would do if the woman were to go into labor.
“Are you…”
“Just Braxton-Hicks, don’t worry.”
The Eule ran a hand over the curve of her belly gently, giving it a slightly annoyed smile as she rolled her eyes towards Ariane.
“She also loves kicking when I move around too much, so that doesn’t help. I’m ok though…”
She gave a thumbs up, though that did little to reassure Ariane at that moment.
“How about we sit down for a second, just to be sure?”
The Gestalt motioned towards a nearby set of seats, almost immediately noticing how large some of them were. The Eule hesitated for a second, but then sighed with a nod.
“Ok… I guess I can sit down for a while. Maybe she’ll fall asleep then.”
The two of them walked - or waddled, in the Eule’s case - over to the seats and sat down slowly, with Ariane helping the Replika lower herself down until she was firmly seated, letting out a relieved sigh. Ariane quickly joined in, sitting down next to her.
“Thank you, Director. This is really embarrassing…”
Ariane blinked, confused.
“Why would it be? You are… quite heavily pregnant, I’m more surprised how little issues you have moving around.”
“Replika spines and legs are a lot stronger than those of Gestalts, hehe.”
The Eule giggled, vaguely motioning at the area around them.
“I would know - right now it’s lunchtime, so most Gestalts are on the lower levels, but usually you can see them waddling around here.”
“Is the facility popular?”
The Replika pondered the question for a second, the room falling silent. Ariane found her eyes drawn to the woman’s gravid middle every couple of seconds for some reason, perhaps still trying to fully understand how the sight before her was possible.
“Well, we are the most popular maternity facility for sure, even though we are a little out of the way. Makes sense - we didn’t skimp out on making sure that our patients have a pleasant and safe stay.”
She paused, yawning slightly before tilting her head with a smile.
“Would you like to touch it?”
Ariane felt herself turn red as she quickly looked away, feeling caught in the act… though she hadn’t really done anything, had she?
“It’s ok, my wife can’t keep her hands off of it either… Just between the two of us, of course.”
The Gestalt felt the Replika’s hand resting on her shoulder before sliding down, grabbing her by the hand gently, lifting it up and bringing it closer. Then, finally, Ariane felt her fingers brush against the warm surface of the Eule’s belly.
It felt… strange, to say the least. Not quite like skin, but close enough to make the hair on the back of Ariane’s neck stand upright for a split-second. It had the same amount of give, the same softness and warmth, but she knew that it was some kind of highly-advanced polymer instead.
Slowly, she turned her head around as well, letting her hand rest on the curve of the Eule’s belly for a second longer before turning fully towards her and putting her other hand against the front part of the large orb, gently holding it in this way.
“Feels nice, right?”
Ariane nodded silently, letting her hands run around the belly slowly, feeling how taut it felt under her touch.
“You are having… one baby, right?”
The Eule nodded slowly, leaning back in the seat slightly.
“Yes, I prefer singletons. I had to carry twins once… I actually struggled with them a bit, Eules like me are not really build for those sizes, I think.”
Ariane took in the words of the Replika without really reacting, instead rubbing the Eule’s pregnant belly gently, until there was a sudden pressure against one of her hands, making her flinch.
“Oh, that was a big kick!”
The Eule giggled at Ariane’s reaction, the Gestalt sitting back as she saw the Replika’s belly move ever so slightly a few times.
“Yeah, she’s really active right now.”
“Is that not uncomfortable?”
“Depends on how much she moves, really. Right now… it kinda tickles. It’s way worse when she decides to stretch!”
The woman let out a groan.
“Oh, you should see that, Director. it always looks like she’s stress-testing my poor belly! I’m just thankful that Replikas can’t get stretch marks.”
She let out a short huff, half amused and half frustrated from the sounds of it. Ariane looked at the movement for a few more seconds before a sense of curiosity caused her to place her hand against the belly once more.
Almost immediately, she felt a little flutter of something against her palm, followed by another. The movements felt tiny, even if Ariane knew that the baby must’ve really been moving around a lot inside to cause such consistent movements. It was fascinating to see, let alone to feel.
“Honestly… I’ve been thinking about naming her after you, but my wife is still a bit hesitant on the idea of it. So far, she’s been saying that you’d have to personally agree to it.”
She chuckled.
“Probably because she thought that I wouldn’t be crazy enough to call you here. And hey, she was right about that in the end, wasn’t she?”
Ariane nodded, still utterly enraptured with the woman’s gently moving belly. She was trying her best to rub it calmingly to help the baby inside settle down, even though she was unsure if her efforts meant much at all.
“Oh, I can’t wait to see her face once she gets here - she’ll probably try to play it cool, but she’ll be freaking out on the inside, heehee!”
The white-haired girl paused, wiping some sweat off of her forehead. The facility seemed to be internally heated in some way, probably to give the patients a cozy feeling, but Ariane’s uniform was making her sweat like crazy.
“Thanks for helping me calm the baby down, by the way. You really didn’t have to do that, Director.”
Ariane blinked, noticing that the Replika’s bump had returned to a calmer state all of a sudden. She couldn’t say for sure when the change had happened, but it must’ve been at least a few seconds.
“You can… keep your hands on my belly, if you want.”
The comment made Ariane jerk back slightly - she had kept her hands on the Eule’s belly without realizing it.
“Ah, sorry. I was just making sure that the baby had really calmed down.”
“Oh, she has, thanks for the help - she’s been pretty active for the last two weeks or so. Getting ready to be born, no doubt!”
She paused, tilting her head slightly as she looked down at her bump.
“Ah… Sorry, I’m just getting a bit sappy, you know? It’s almost over again…”
“Are you afraid of giving birth at all?”
The Eule shook her head.
“It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, probably because I’m a Replika. Still, I’m not exactly looking forward to it, to say the least.”
She smiled.
“Oh well, can’t be worse than pushing out twins, at least!”
Ariane nodded, looking around a bit before standing back up.
“Well, do you feel like we can keep going? I’d love to leave you sitting here, but I don’t think I can find my way around here without you.”
The Eule nodded, slowly pushing herself back up onto her hooves as well, with Ariane grabbing her under one shoulder to act as a support for a few seconds while the Replika found her footing.
“Thanks. You’re very helpful - your wife is lucky to have you.”
Ariane felt the words burn themselves into her mind as soon as they left the Eule’s mouth. How long had Ellie been there, in this “maternity clinic”, by herself? Had Ariane been neglecting her in favor of her job?
“I think I should have been here sooner for her.”
The Eule shook her head.
“With all due respect Director, she’s been in the best hands for the last few weeks here with us. We are far better equipped to deal with her pregnancy here.”
Ariane was hardly convinced by the Replika’s words, but she nodded anyway.
“I suppose so. Where are we going exactly?”
The Eule motioned down the hallway before turning to the nearby wall and pointing at one of the colored lines.
“Administrative access is uh… Right, we need to get to the elevators, my wife will pick you up from there.”
Ariane followed the woman’s gesture, looking at the lines on the wall and the labels that she could see more clearly now.
The blue line was labeled “Administration & VIP”, with a smaller label adding “Commander & Administrator offices” next to it. The orange line below it was thinner, labeled as “Special cases”, while the third, a green line, was labeled “Common Area”.
“Only three areas?”
The Eule shook her head, grabbing Ariane by the arm again.
“No no, those are just the three main divisions of the facility - Each area has its own, smaller pointers, of course.”
“Makes sense. So, I’m going to be following the blue line, then?”
“That’s right! All the way down to the admin sector.”
Ariane nodded, letting herself be pulled along again. This time, she was doing so willingly at least, which was an improvement. Somehow, feeling the Eule’s belly with her own two hands had helped solidify the reality of the situation of her mind.
Still, there was something gnawing at the back of her mind, though she didn’t want to pose the question, afraid that she’d seem crazy. The Eule had said something earlier that Ariane’s brain had barely managed to perceive while it was still trying its hardest to not have a breakdown.
The words “we have you to thank for this”. What did they mean, exactly? Had… had she somehow come up with the logistics of this - of letting Replikas be pregnant? That didn’t make any sense, did it?
“So, have there been any news in the field?”
The Eule shook her head.
“No, nothing since your initial discoveries I’m afraid. Still, the procedure and retrofitting are still relatively new, so it will take a while before people give the field the attention it deserves. Don’t worry Director, I’m sure you’ll receive more prizes than just that medal in due time.”
Ariane blinked. Medal? What medal? She glanced down at herself and, sure enough… There was a small band sewn into her uniform, holding a small, golden medal. Ariane recognized the symbol - a snake wrapped around a staff, all within a star. The staff of Asclepius, as she vaguely remembered.
“Uh, right. And there have been no… complications?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, no. There are of course the occasional baby that is twisted around in the womb and other such things, but that’s to be expected - honestly, it happens way more often to our Gestalt patients than the Replikas.”
The halls around them were quiet, causing the Eule’s voice to echo slightly. The faint smell of grass passed by Ariane, causing her to raise an eyebrow. It seemed that the facility had some kind of atmospheric management program - they really did put in care to make the facility seem at least a little less intimidating to the average patient.
“So… you said your wife will pick me up?”
“Yeah… I’d love to stick around, but I need to make sure that the rooms are cleaned up properly, and my girls should be checking in with me in a few minutes… unless they forget again, of course.”
“Are they also… pregnant?”
The Eule chuckled.
“Some, mostly the ones who have been here for a while. Baby fever gets everyone in the end, you know?”
“I guess so…”
They walked into a large room that was generously decorated with trees and smaller plants. It took Ariane a second to realize that both of the walls were covered with the doors of what must have been the facility’s multiple elevators. The Eule nodded slowly.
“Here we are - I’ll wait with you until my wife gets here, but then I’ll really need to get back to my post.”
Ariane breathed in deeply, smelling a pleasant floral aroma as she did so.
“Oh, these plants are real?”
“Yep! The Aras take care of them, actually. It’s really nice, because it keeps them happy and means that we don’t need to hire specific gardeners either, so that is a pretty massive saving for the budget.”
Ariane nodded, impressed.
“Well, seems you have it figured out.”
“By and large, yeah. There are of course some Replika types who are a bit… harder to please, but we manage.”
Ariane blew air out of her nose, giving the Eule a quick look.
“Oh? Any problem children, so to say?”
The Replika pondered the question for a second.
“Well… Storches can be a bit of a chore at times, as can be expected. Besides that… Ah, I’d rather not talk about someone who’s listening.”
“Aw, you noticed?”
The sound of a new voice made Ariane spin around, her heart pounding. It was coming from just beyond the plants, sounding distinctly familiar. The Eule behind the Gestalt sighed.
“Yep. You’re not very stealthy, Ricochet.”
“Wonder whose fault that is.”
Ariane watched on as a head popped up from behind some plants, sporting the same electric-blue eyes as the Eule, though this woman also had small, red lines under her eyes. After a second of digging around her memory, Ariane remembered the unit name of the newcomer - this was undoubtedly a Starling.
The Eule chuckled.
“Aw, what is it? Are you trying to hide? Come on out and show yourself to the Director.”
“Urgh… alright, I guess I have to…”
Ariane steeled herself for what she was about to see, her thoughts drifting back to Ellie again. When would she be able to see her? Hopefully soon, though something told her that her trip through the maternity clinic had only just begun.
With one last deep breath out, Ariane opened her eyes.