"Good job, everyone."
"It's Riley!"
"All Hail, Riley!"
"Shh!"
A dozen, or perhaps more than; scattered and emerging from the foliage that resided on the shores surrounding the Black Sea. White hair, white skin– almost a part of the sea as they reflected the rays of the moon and stars even more.
Riley's clones, all welcoming him at the same time; their eyes, filled with an emotion that Riley himself was not capable of.
"Boss."
One of the clones then stepped forward amidst the crowd, bowing his head at Riley and starting some sort of domino effect as the others soon followed.
"Ronaldo," Riley then nodded to the clone, who was wearing a different outfit than the others– almost a tuxedo that was clean despite all the sand and dirt that surrounded them. As for the others, they were just wearing a black and white outfit, similar to the prison uniform that Riley was wearing while he was still in the Super Max.
"Why did you visit us, boss?"
"I am here to relieve all of you of your duty."
"W… what?"
"...Why?"
"I… was just born last week."
"That is enough," the clone called Ronaldo raised his fist in the air, causing the rest of the clones to shut their mouths. Ronaldo also held some sort of complicated expression on his face, his eyebrows, turning into a frown.
"May… I ask why we're being relieved, Boss?" Ronaldo then said; his voice, slightly weak and sedated.
"You know why, Ronaldo," Riley let out a small but slightly deep sigh, "I will be staying inside the Hope Guild now and no longer need your service."
"...But can't the others remain?" Ronaldo closed his eyes before glancing at the other clones, "I have no regrets in disappearing since I have been here for 16 months, 9 days, and 11 hours– the longest of any of the other Rileys here. But the others, they have only been here for a very short time."
"..." Hearing this, Riley looked at the rest of the clones, who immediately looked at him with expressions of expectations and a bit of dismay.
"No," Riley shook his head, "But I am forever indebted and thankful for everything you have done."
"...What about Rafaello, boss?"
"He stays," Riley said as he glanced towards the sea.
"Can… I at least make a request, boss?" Ronaldo then once again stepped forward, his eyebrows, slightly raised while his eyes glisten dimly, "Once we disappear, can we work at the Guesthouse?"
"The Guesthouse is already at full capacity of Rileys, Ronaldo," Riley shook his head, "I am afraid this is where it ends for all of you."
And as soon as the other clones heard that, they could not help but all close their eyes, their shoulders, slightly shivering as they subtly rubbed away the tears that were slowly emerging from their trembling eyes.
"It… it hasn't been long, but thank you for being like brothers to me."
"No, I should be the one thanking you."
"Guess we'll never personally visit the cinemas."
"Until next time."
The clones then all started huddling up; some hugging each other, some saluting, and some shaking their hands.
"Everyone!" Ronaldo then faced the other clones, stomping his foot on the ground to get their attention. Seeing this, Riley took a step back, allowing Ronaldo to talk with the others alone.
"Thank you for your service through all this time!" Ronaldo then said as he bowed his head to the other clones, "Until we meet again in origin."
"...Until we meet again in origin, sir Ronaldo."
And with those words, the clones once again bowed their heads. And after a few seconds, they returned to saying their farewells to each other; their tears, damping the dry sand and ground beneath their feet.
"Boss," Ronaldo then nodded his head towards Riley, "We are ready to–"
And before he could even finish his words, the melancholy contained in his face abruptly disappeared; replaced by nothing as he straightened his back and stood up straight. It was not only him, the rest of the clones that were previously bidding their goodbyes all stood up straight; the sadness in their eyes, completely gone– leaving only the trail of tears on their faces.
The only semblance of emotion that remained were the tears that have not yet reached the ground.
"..." Riley then stared at the lifeless clones in front of him, looking at them while letting out somewhat heavy sighs. Like him, these clones do not really process emotion the way a normal human does.
They were just replicating memories of Riley, memories of people… or in this case, memories of characters that Riley has watched on TV. Ronaldo, Rafaello, and the other clones, they were all based on the characters from Italian Mafia Reborn.
The way they talk, the way they express themselves– fake. Or perhaps it was better to call it an act. None of them even needed to talk, as their thoughts and everything they see are all connected to Riley's mind.
None of them were alive; they were just extensions of Riley. But even so, Riley wanted to give each of them a personality– a personality that he himself can't have and not allowed to have. A personality that made them… even more human than him.
"Thank you for all your service."
This time, it was Riley that bowed; even with the clones now frozen and unresponsive– only a husk of what they once were,
"I will take it from here."
And with those words, the clones all started to melt and wither away– their flesh, similar to the ground they stood on; mud, sand, dirt.
And then, they were… just gone.
"..." Riley then looked at the ground for a few seconds before floating away. After all, this spot was only one of many that had his clones; surrounding the Black Sea and watching each of the Hope Guild's movements.
He still had to fire several more clones.
***
"Where'd you go? You seen the snack bar yet?"
"No, Tempo."
After a few more hours, Riley was finally back in the base of the Hope Guild; finding Tempo and Butcher just idling in the lobby and doing their own thing.
"..." Riley looked around for a few more seconds, before just sitting on one of the sofas and turning on the TV in the living room, quickly logging in his Webflix account and watching Italian Mafia Reborn.
"..." Tempo could only look at Riley as he… just suddenly made himself home. He wanted to talk to him about anything, but seeing as Riley seemed so focused with whatever it was he was watching, Tempo just decided to turn to the other member within the vicinity.
"..." But seeing as Butcher was just wiping his knives and not saying anything… it almost seemed like he was basically alone even though Riley and Butcher were with him.
"..."
It took exactly 3 minutes before Tempo finally decided to talk to Riley,
"Do you even know where you're staying yet?"
And as soon as Riley heard Tempo's words, he immediately turned off the TV and stood up.
"Not yet, Tempo," Riley shook his head, "Do you have a map? I will continue watching Italian Mafia Reborn in my room since Butcher is cleaning his knives quite loudly here."
"..." Butcher, who had been trying his best to keep quiet, could not help but almost drop the knife he was wiping. Riley and Alice could not be any more different from each other… and yet they were similar all the same for some reason.
"You don't really need a map," Tempo said before he started explaining the layout of the Hope Guild and pointing to where Riley's room is. And as Tempo stated, Riley truly was able to find his room quite easily. His room seemed to be next to Bernard's– but he didn't seem to be here since he was staying with Diana.
With their jets flying casually, it should take at least 2 hours to get from the Black Sea back to the US; less than an hour if he wanted to.
As for Riley– he was not really allowed to sleep elsewhere as in a way, his situation was closer to a parole. And tomorrow, he will officially be doing work that the Hope Guild is doing.
Who knew. Just more than a year ago, he was to killing each of the members of the Hope Guild. If it wasn't for Megawoman asking not to kill them, then the only member of the Hope Guild left alive today would probably just be Whiteking.
"..." Riley then finally placed his palm on the door of his room; and as soon as he did so, a voice entered his ears.
[Confirming identity: Riley Ross.]
And with those words, the door slid open– and throughout everything he had seen, this was probably the most surprising for him. His room, it was set up in the exact same way as his room back in their house.
Devoid of anything else but a bed; dark and empty. Perhaps the only thing different was the view-- the vast ocean floor of the Black Sea.
And if he was right... the phone that was resting on the bed was his.
The phone he was secretly using before he went to the Mega Academy. The phone that contained photos and videos of Megawoman; mangled and beaten.
"..." Riley then picked up the phone, and since he was able to unlock it with his fingerprint– then his assumption was right. What bombarded Riley was Megawoman-- her voice that seemed to always cry for the sake of someone else.
How long has it been since he truly last heard her voice? Not from an A.I, but from her.
"You will find out sooner or later. Or maybe you already know."
And almost as if he was back to where it started, someone barged into his room; her words, whispering into Riley's ears.
"But I know that you're Darkday."
"Miss Empress."
It was Empress, approaching him alone and seemingly without any more fear in her eyes, "I am not here to fight…
…but to request your help."
"Hm?" Riley then finally turned to face Empress.
"I know where she is…" Empress then only stopped walking as she was a foot away from Riley, "The woman you seemed to have forgotten to find...
…Megawoman."