Chapter - 10

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Theresa had just returned from a mission assigned her by her grandpa, she was slowly making her way back to the apartment as she felt sadness wrapping her up. Today was her birthday and yet no one seemed to have noticed not that she expected her fellow Valkyries to care since they considered her an abomination to begin with. Cecilia also wasn't around since she had to go on a mission...

she opened the door of her apartment and...

"Surprise!" Anastasia shouted as a room full of colorful ornaments, Happy Birthday signs, presents and food revealed itself to Theresa's eyes. "happy birthday Theresa!"

Before Theresa could react, she found herself being hugged by her little sister who easily lifted her up in the air while laughing. She then put her down and made a smirk "I had to be sneaky and hide everything that I had prepared, you know? Two weeks of secretive planning! I bought all of your favorite food and corrupted some pilots to bring me your presents since there isn't any type of mall inside the base! since I think that 3 gifts are not enough for you, I counted every valkyrie here and added a present for each one, so we have...123 gifts ready for you to open! Don't worry since I barely use my salary I had quite a lot of money! So where do you want to start?"

Theresa started sobbing causing Anastasia to looked at her with a worried expression "Oh Gosh, something happened?" Anastasia asked

The small valkyrie shook her head as she hugged her sister "No, I'm just happy!"

"Oh my, are we interrupting something?" Otto asked as he also walked inside the apartment "sorry for being late, bureaucracy took longer than expected"

Cecilia appeared behind him along with a young red-haired valkyrie "Sorry! I just came back! You don't mind if I brought someone else right?" she asked as she gestured the valkyrie next to her "this is Murata Himeko, a B-class Valkyrie who has the potential to become an A-class"

Himeko bowed "pleased to meet you" she said calmly...

Theresa was staring at her hands as she tried to hold back her tears, her recent mission caused her to kill one of her squad members because she turned into a zombie...the image of herself using her javelin to kill her didn't want to leave her mind. Suddenly she felt a warm feeling embracing her and before she could notice, Anastasia was hugging her from behind with her arms and vectors.

"You did the right thing Teri" Anastasia whispered "I'm sure that valkyrie would say the same"

"How is killing an ally a good thing..." Theresa muttered as she clenched her hands "if only I had been strong enough maybe she would be here"

"Maybe yes or maybe not" Anastasia admitted nodding "but I think that she would have preferred death to being the cause of the death of her squad, don't you think?"

Theresa remained silent for a while before slowly nodding and then chuckling "woah...what kind of big sister gets cheered up by her little sister...that should be my job"

Anastasia chuckled "Every now and then even the big sister to be cheered up"

Theresa started rubbing her eyes as tears started to pouring out of her eyes again while looking at Anastasia's unconscious body.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered as she tightened the grip on her sister's hand "I should have been a better sister...I'm sorry"

Otto started walking away from the scene before Amber placed herself in front of him "Lord Overseer, you should take a look at this" she said with a rather shaken tone as she handed out a datapad.

Otto raised an eyebrow before grabbing the datapad and reading it. It showed him the results of the test Amber did to see if Anastasia's vegetative state was by Honkai Corruption...

"What...?" Otto whispered as he put his hand on his mouth "These are...different DNAs"

Amber nodded "So far we have been able to identify thousands of different DNA samples inside Anastasia. While the Nanosuit keeps Anastasia's original form, I think that it could turn the body into someone else by using other DNA...maybe even reacquire the genetic memories of said person."

Otto widened his eyes before looking back at Anastasia "Bring her back to my lab immediately" he immediately ordered as Amber nodded...

Back at HQ...

Theresa was sitting on the couch of the living room in her apartment, she felt like that place became empty all of the sudden and it didn't feel like home anymore, it was cold, emotionless like the rooms Schicksal give her when she's on a mission. Suddenly a knock on the door caught her attention, and slowly, she made her way towards the entrance. When she opened the door, she found Cecilia standing in front of her with a mortified expression.

"I know that you hate me because you lost your sister because of me...I just want to say that I also loved her...and that I'll never forgive myself...I'm sorry..." she whispered as tears fell down her eyes "Farewell Theresa..."

Cecilia quickly turned around knowing that she wouldn't be able to bear Theresa's reaction...but she remained shocked when the small Valkyrie hugged her tightly and started to sob

"Please don't go...you're the only one who's left" she whispered as Cecilia turned around her hugged Theresa back before they started sharing their tears.

Meanwhile...

Otto was standing in front of Anastasia's body, in his hand there was a syringe with Kallen's genes. His breath was heavy, and his hands were almost shaking.

"We are ready milord" Amber said as she checked Anastasia's vital signals

Otto nodded and injected the genes inside Anastasia's body before taking a step away.

Silence filled the room before the ping of notification of Ambers's console filled the air.

"There's a reaction!" Amber said before tendrils covered Anastasia's body changing its shape and form.

Otto widened his eyes when the tendrils disappeared...she was there, her eyes were open and fixed on him.

"Kallen..." He whispered as he felt joy overwhelming his being.

Kallen had the same clothes as the day she left to go east, beautiful as ever. She slowly looked at her hands before gritting her teeth.

Otto quickly approached her "What's wrong?!" he asked before getting slapped across the face "Kallen...?"

"How could you...?" Kallen muttered with an angered expression "You tortured her for years! You did so many cruel things to her! She trusted you! She loved you!"

"Who are you talking about...?" Otto asked as she rubbed his cheek

"Anastasia!" Kallen replied as she got up and pushed Otto to the wall "How long did it take for you to think of replacing her?"

"She was dead Kallen" Otto replied

"No she isn't!" Kallen shouted causing everyone to widen their eyes "she just lost all of her will to live! She felt so betrayed that couldn't handle it! Her world shattered when she understood that her life was a web of lies!" she said before starting sobbing a bit "What happened to you Otto...? I know you did a lot of things in the past...but this is just cruel..."

Otto's expression turned grim "I lost you..."

Kallen remained silent for a few moments before backing away "Don't you dare you did it for my sake...don't use me as motivation for your actions..." she said before turning invisible

"Kallen?" Otto called "KALLEN?!" he shouted before looking at Amber "Find her!"

The alarm went off as all the security system kicked in.

Kallen used the cloaking of the Nanosuit to get past the normal guards, she nullified her body temperature to get past the heat sensors and the lack of heart kept her from getting caught by heartbeat sensors. She used SECOND to hack the pressure sensors and the lasers. Her destination was only one...her house.

This body didn't belong to Kallen, nor she asked to be brought back but even if she did, she would never steal it from someone else. Unfortunately for her, Anastasia never went in this area of the lab and so she was wandering around looking for an exit.

Kallen widened her eyes when she found herself staring at numerous pods filled with pink-haired girls with horns with a bigger body than normal people, she had stumbled upon another secret.

"clones?" she whispered to herself before she saw a computer nearby and hack inside of it.