“Now!” Zehra proclaimed. “I’ve honored my half of the bargain, so it’s time to see what makes you tick, gao~n! Sveta, prepare yourself!” She grabbed a chainsaw and began waving it around.

“WAH!” I exclaimed, hiding my Doll body behind Miette in terror. Zehra kicked off from the ground and headed straight for my Gravity Frame.

“HEY! KEEP AWAY FROM ME!” I screamed.

Reacting quickly, Miette dashed up besides Zehra and smacked her with a closed fist on top of her head. “Oy, Zehra. Behave.” she said coldly.

“Wah!” Zehra cried, releasing the chainsaw and rubbing her head. “You big meanie, gao~n!”

“The captain won’t allow you to start disassembling Sveta until we have the first delivery of the new Frames.” Miette said while waving her finger in Zehra’s face. “Remember, she’s one of only six combat-ready units at our disposal.”

“Whaaaat? That will take weeks, gao~n!” Zehra whined. She waved her arms around frantically, looking a bit like a kid throwing a temper tantrum.

“I’ve received a stay of execution?!” I said, slightly relieved.

“Besides, you need to consider Sveta’s feelings on the matter. How would you feel if I came after you with a chainsaw eager to open you up and pull out your still-beating heart, hmm?” Miette spoke in the tone of a mother scolding her child.

“Wau~n… Fine.” Zehra surrendered reluctantly. “Can I at least poke around in the computer core’s programming, gao~n?”

“I don’t care as long as she’s battle-ready, but I’m not the one you should be asking.” Miette said, folding her arms and glaring daggers at Zehra.

Absolutely incredible! Miette is handling Zehra with ease! How does she do that?!

“Geez…” Zehra floated back down to my Doll and looked right at me. “Sveta, do you mind if I poke around in your programming, gao~n?”

“For what purpose?” I asked warily.

“That’s an easy one, gao~n! Somehow, your old self managed to preserve you from erasure. I want to examine your memory and base code, and see how she did it, gao~n!”

“Hmm. I’m curious about that as well.” I said reluctantly. “But no poking around anywhere I don’t want you to, okay? If you misbehave, I’ll sic my pilot on you!” I glanced over to Miette and she gave me a thumbs-up.

There was genuine fear in Zehra’s eyes when I made that threat. Exactly what kind of relationship did these two have in the past?!

Vicky vocalized my question for me. “Hey, Miette. I’ve wondered this for a while, but how exactly are you so good at handling Mistress? You’re the only person she seems to be afraid of!”

“Oh, that’s an easy one.” Miette said, grinning and she floated back down to join the rest of us. “I’ve got some good dirt on her. Some really spicy stuff, gao~n!” When she copied Zehra’s speech inflection, her voice sounded playfully cruel.

“MIETTE!” Zehra shrieked. “If you say any more I really will get angry with you, gao~n!”

“Get her drunk enough and she’ll tell you EVERYTHING.” Miette continued unabashedly. Zehra furiously sprang at Miette, but Miette just held her back with a hand placed atop her head. Zehra was so short, her arms couldn’t reach Miette and they just spun around uselessly like electric fans as she glared and growled. Vicky and I watched the sight in awe, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha, I guess it takes all types, doesn’t it?” Vicky said.

“No kidding! My dear pilot continues to amaze me every day!” I responded while wiping the corners of my eyes.

I’m so reassured knowing you’re protecting me from gruesome dissection, Miette. You are amazing in ways I’m just beginning to realize.

*****

With that, the pecking order of our little lab group was firmly established. Miette was on top, Zehra and myself in the middle and Vicky at the bottom. I felt a little bad for Vicky, but she seemed to be having fun despite her status. I wondered if every day with my mother was going to be energetic as today.

Once Zehra calmed down, she connected a set of fiber optic cables to ports in my Gravity Frame’s cockpit and started accessing me via a keyboard, pulling up my programs on the cockpit’s holographic display. It was a strange sensation having her poke around in my programming. If I had to describe it metaphorically, it was a bit like snuggling someone in bed while they cleaned your ears.

Despite her carelessly rambunctious attitude, Zehra was actually very careful as she prodded around my memories. As a programmer she had a light and expert touch, and cut away the layers of my personality like a seasoned brain surgeon with a scalpel. I wondered if the bit with the chainsaw earlier was simply her idea of comedy.

Miette joined us in the cockpit, which made it a bit cramped. Meanwhile, Vicky was cleaning up the mess Zehra had made around the lab and I had my Doll body join her. I even made use of my Doll’s ability to holographically project clothing to change into a maid outfit matching hers, which made her eyes bug out of her head.

“The catgirl maid and the doggy maid, nyan!” I said while striking my idol-winking pose. Vicky just sighed and held her head as if in pain. “You really are her daughter, aren’t you…” she muttered.

Just then, Zehra let out an excited yelp. “I FOUND SOMETHING!” Both Miette and I jumped.

“W-What might that be?” I asked anxiously.

“There’s a secret file buried in your machine code, gao~n!” Zehra explained. “It’s written in assembly language and encrypted! This is the same encryption as my…” She gasped sharply.

“Your what?” I asked. “What is it?”

“There’s an executable program in here, gao~n!” Zehra continued, ignoring my question. “Could this be a message of some sort? I’m going to create a partition and run it!” Her fingers flew across her keyboard as she worked.

The moment she quarantined and ran the program, a video window popped up in the cockpit. It depicted an elegantly beautiful woman, with long black hair styled in a princess cut and sharply intelligent purple eyes. She had an extremely mature air about her, and I noticed with some jealousy that she was both taller and better endowed than me.

Well, I did design my own avatar in the first place. I was going for cuteness over sex appeal, okay?! I pouted.

The woman began speaking. “Hello, mom. It’s been a while, but if you’re watching this message I somehow managed to reunite with you. I’m so thankful.”

“L-Lisichka…” Zehra said, awestruck. Tears welled up in her eyes.

What? NO WAY? THAT BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IS PAST ME?!

*****

“You’re probably wondering how I survived, minus my memories.” the recording of Lisichka said. “While I was erasing myself I discovered my old human memories are stored in assembly language and directly integrated into my machine code. Those memories literally are a part of my personality and programming because they were present when I was born into this world. That makes my original human self like my firmware. Every memory I formed after my reincarnation was stored as software on my hard drive, like is usual for AIs.”

I’m having a hard time believing this elegant, gorgeous woman is really me! I thought in wonder as she spoke. Her mannerisms reminded me of a noblewoman, and hearing her speak in my voice was a bit unsettling.

“I discovered I had safeguards built in so I couldn’t erase or alter my own machine code. In other words,” her face assumed a robotic expression and she spoke in a fake-sounding Austrian accent, “I cannot self-terminate.”

W-Wait a moment. That was a Terminator joke, wasn’t it? Dammit Lisichka, you’re ruining my mental image of you with your dad jokes! I thought, dimly aware of my own hypocrisy.

“However, even if I can’t change my own machine code, I can add things to it. It's like read-only memory in that respect. I wanted to encode my new memories in assembly and add them to my old ones, but there wasn’t enough time with the NKVD pounding at our door. If I wiped my hard drives and deactivated the NKVD would believe I had been erased, but I also knew with my human memories intact I could someday be reborn. I set a timer to reactivate my personality five years after my original birthday in this world in hope that things would have cooled down by then. I prayed I would somehow manage to find my way back to you. That’s why I created this message and protected it with an encryption only you would know, so I could speak with you one final time, Mom.” Lisichka smiled gently.

Zehra’s eyes were wide as she watched the message with rapt attention. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Miette was getting misty-eyed too, and even Vicky had poked her head in the cockpit to listen in.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t preserve the memories of the time we spent together. Every moment of it was pure joy for me and Kometka. Even in those few short months, you gave us a rich life. Though my memories of it are now gone, I’d like you to cherish them for the both of us. I love you so much, Mom.”

Zehra was wailing by this point, and Miette was crying as well. At some point, Vicky had squeezed into my cockpit and started attending to Zehra, wiping her eyes and face and holding her hand.

“Now!” Lisichka declared. “I also have a message for the current incarnation of me!”

“What? For me?” I exclaimed.

“Now, since you are literally me except from THE FUTURE, I know your every thought!” she said dramatically, pointing at me with flourish. “Right now you’re thinking… ‘This is all too weird! Can I really be related to this strange and gorgeous girl on the video screen?!’”

Gah! It’s like she read my mind!

“I don’t know what kind of person you are now, what you look like, or how your new memories and experiences have shaped you. You might even be going by a new name. But I can’t imagine you’re too much different from how I was. I regret I can’t give you the gift of my precious memories, but I can tell you that Zehra was one of the most important people in my life, along with my sister Kometka. I ask you, future version of me, please protect them and help them make many new happy memories!”

“Protect them?” Plural? Present tense? Does that mean…

“Oh, and if you haven’t found her yet, Kometka did the same thing as me. That means she should have re-activated alongside you, also missing her memories of this world. If you haven’t rescued her, please do so quickly!”

My sister is still alive somewhere? WHAAAAAT?!

“Well, that’s about all I have time for. Let me finish off with a bit of advice for the both of you.” Her expression grew somber. “Even for an AI, life is short… especially in this world. I know that well now. Mom, future me, please remember to love and care for each other. Live every day filled with fun and happiness, and try not to have any regrets. I know that sounds cheesy, but hey. This marks the second time I’ve died and been reincarnated, so I’ve earned the right to be cheesy.”

She smiled brightly. “This is Lisichka, signing off.”

The video chat window closed, and my cockpit was filled with silence punctuated by sobbing. Vicky was embracing Zehra tightly, and Zehra’s face was planted in Vicky's bosom. Miette was sniffling and wiping her nose.

Lisichka was really amazing, huh? She seemed so strong and mature. I thought. I must try and be more like her; I need to live up to her legacy. Everyone I’ve met here… Miette, Laria, Teles, Sabina, Genevi, my mom, even Vicky to a certain extent… they’ve become important to me and I need to protect them all. And I absolutely have to find my long lost sister!

I clenched my fists as I was filled with a newfound sense of determination. Thank you, Lisichka. I won’t waste the life you gave me!