Chapter 10: Prima Optima (Alisha)

What is my name, you ask? Well, it's complicated…

I was not named at birth. Because I wasn't created to have parents or a family…

Seven infertile couples exhausted every single conventional method to conceive, yet nothing worked out. So they decided to accomplish their wish through unconventional means.

This led them to a laboratory somewhere in the province of Zuid-Holland, wherein a group of scientists managed to come up with a way to create humans, which are called "Homunculi" in plural form and "Homunculus" in the singular form.

The seven infertile couples, consisting of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, professions, personalities, pasts, talents, you name it, gave their DNA samples to the laboratory so that the scientists could create the first Homunculus ever from their genes…

And that first Homunculus, well, that's me. I am the Prototype, the Archetype. My codename is "Prima Optima". "Prima", because I am the first of the homunculi. And "Optima", because I am the best and the most excellent of the homunculi.

I possess the genes of all the 7 distinct couples, and thus of 14 distinct people. I was already conscious and self-aware right before I was let out of the artificial womb.

I was always delighted whenever the 7 couples came to see me in the artificial womb. They also appeared to be happy themselves.

The thought of having 14 parents made me feel special. I couldn't wait until I could leave the artificial womb so that I could start engaging with all of my parents and the families I'm a part of.

Only to be abandoned at birth…

The moment I left the artificial womb, was the moment they stopped paying me visits. The scientists celebrated that their technology and method to create life succeeded and went exactly as planned.

I was told by the Head Scientist, Nathan Mazzi, that I was born with zero personality extremities. I am perfect in every way, shape and form.

From my looks, to my intelligence. To my physique, to my personality. I am truly Prima Optima. Yet, despite all of my praiseworthy qualities, the 7 couples turned their backs on me.

And instead they were delighted with the 7 girls that were born a year after me. Each of them only has two parents consisting of one of the seven couples.

They are inferior to me since they were born with personality extremities. They aren't as beautiful as me, nor as talented as me, nor are they as charming as me.

They are beneath me. So then why did the 7 couples pick them over me? I felt lonely and depressed because of that. Somehow, I'm the faulty homunculus, the defected one, the undesirable one, despite my perfection?

One day, when I was about five years old, I decided to ask Nathan about it. "Why have they abandoned me?"

"Huh?" He was confused by my question. "Who has abandoned you?"

"My parents," I cried. "They came to pick up my sisters. But they didn't ever come to pick me up. Am I undesirable?"

"It's not that…" He pitied me. "Then what is it?" I asked.

"It's complicated to explain… You know, you are very special, Optima. No one in human history has ever been born through seven males and seven females except for you. Your parents just don't know how to deal with this. You should give them some time."

"How long must I wait until they come to pick me up?"

"I think a year or two…"

10.1

I waited and remained optimistically hopeful. I mean I had to. Otherwise, my right to exist would have become nullified in my sight.

My parents never came to see me, though. I wasn't even allowed to see my sisters either. I could hear them interact with each other from my room. It appeared that they always had a lot of fun together.

At the age of eight, my sisters entered my room as I sat on the bench of the window. I had it quite warm and needed some cool air.

I turned around to face them, smiling, "I was wondering when you'd come visit me, my sisters."

"Who… Who are you?" Ira, or Benesha, asked. "She appears to be homunculus too," Superbia, or Maeve, said.

All of my sisters looked terrified and I wondered why. Shouldn't they be happy that there are more of their kind? And that they have more sisters than they thought?

"Why are you making such faces?" I asked. "I am Prima Optima, the first homunculus to ever walk the earth. I was created from combining all the genes of your parents. Meaning that I am a sister to all of you."

"But you weren't born from our artificial womb…" Gula, or Kayla said, feeling apprehensive. "And our parents never informed us about an eight sister," said Invidia, or Minah.

"She claims to have all of our genes. That's so creepy," Avaritia, or Eliza, said.

"She looks eerily like me!" Luxuria, or Haniya, said as she felt anxious.

I felt hurt by their comments. Here I was, waiting for the moment my sisters would break the rules of the laboratory and open the door to my room, so that I could finally meet them.

But the encounter did not turn out as I wished it would. I was ostracized by my sisters instead. They looked at me as if I were some sort of a monster. I guess, to them, I was indeed a monster…

"Girls!" I heard Zipporah rushing into the room. "You aren't allowed to enter this room!" Zipporah quickly stopped speaking as soon as she noticed the intense air looming into the room.

"You and your parents have cut me off from the fourteen genealogies I belong to…" I began. "And for that, I will inflict severe punishment on you and on your parents. You have neglected me, ignored my existence. All I wanted was to be accepted into your families. So what that I am a prototype? Don't I have a heart and a soul? I have feelings too. I am also just a little girl. I need a father, a mother and a house I can call home. No one even gave me a name…" I was holding back my tears.

"Lilith…" Maeve uttered in a low voice. "Huh?" I asked.

"Your name is Lilith," she said. "The first female homunculus who has been rejected due to her file nature."

"It's not normal to have so many different genes combined in yourself," Haniya said.

"You were just created as a test subject to see if the technology to create homunculi works," Benesha said. "And it works. You served your purpose."

"Our parents are not your parents," Kayla said. "We are not your sisters."

"Why are you still even alive?" Eliza wondered. "What's the purpose behind keeping you?"

"Looks like there's a misunderstanding on your part, Optima," Minah chimed in. "You weren't created to fulfill the role of a child for our parents. We were created for that purpose. You were only created to see if our creation would be successful."

I looked at Acedia Mandane, hoping she would think otherwise and would come up for me, but she averted her gaze from me. I felt devastated.

"I will destroy all of you…" I clenched my teeth as tears rolled down my face.

"Come on. Let's go now," Zipporah urged the girls to leave the room.

I was suffering from depressive loneliness, and this went on for years. After some weeks, I didn't hear any ruckus from my sisters during the weekends anymore. So I wondered what happened.

I decided to question Zipporah about it. "Where are my sisters?"

"They are no longer allowed to be together in one space, since the scientists fear it may diminish a sense of individuality for all of them."

"Did they begin acting in unison?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad they got split up," I said. "I hope that will cause them to understand how it feels to be lonely."

"Optima, I understand that you're heartbroken over the fact that they and their parents don't want you in their lives. But that's their decision to make, no? They have the right to decide who they want to be a part of their lives. I think it's better if you move on from this."

"You don't understand how I feel otherwise you wouldn't say any of that nonsense to me," I retorted.

"I know your capabilities, Optima. You are fully capable of causing destruction to the very souls of people. And I don't want that to happen."

"What will you do about it?"

"I will keep an eye on you, and stop you at all costs."

"In that case, I may inflict severe punishment on you, too."

"Just remember that I take your threats very seriously."

10.2

I needed to execute my plans immediately. First, I had to think of what household of the 7 married couples I should infiltrate. It needed to be one that was wealthy and powerful.

So only three families are an option; the Dutch Royal House, the Badilites, and the IJzerhart family. I ruled out the Dutch Royal House because I didn't want to have a face-off with Maeve this soon. I also ruled out the IJzerhart family since their wealth is fringe; it comes from a company that might perform negatively in the future.

So the Badila Household remained as the only option…

On the next Saturday, Benesha came with her parents Kanda and Balela Badila to the laboratory. She was to undergo some tests and examinations.

I went to see her parents without permission while the scientists were busy with Benesha. "Hello there!" I greeted them, smiling.

"Who is this?" Kanda asked his wife. "The prototype, remember? She was made from all of our DNA samples."

"Ah, right. I didn't know the scientists kept her. She sure has grown a lot."

"How are you two doing?"

"We're fine," Balela answered. "Yourself?"

"I'm doing great!" I replied. "You know about me, right? About my perfect stats and my excellent qualities. My potential is extremely high. Much higher than that of Benesha."

"So what?" Balela responded. "You are not just my daughter but that of every parent involved in this experiment. I prefer my own daughter over you."

"I understand. But would you want to lose me to another family? Or waste my potential? Wouldn't it be better if you utilized me for a purpose Benesha cannot fulfill?"

"Like what?"

"She could marry Sansula in the future," Kanda suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," Balela agreed. "Our son could use a very talented wife in the future."

I did not know that they had a son. I wondered if he was homunculus too. But he couldn't have been, or else I'd have known about him.

"I'd be willing to marry your son," I smiled.

"Good," Balela replied. "We'll take full custody over you and pick you up tomorrow. Prepare yourself for it."

I packed my bags and moved to Benesha's place on the next day. She was shocked to see me enter the living room together with her parents.

"So we meet again, Ira," I smiled. "Please take good care of me, as my sister."

"Who is she?" Sansula asked. "A girl from Benesha's kindergarten. She doesn't have a family so your father and I decided to take her in. And she's to be your future wife as well."

"What's your name?" He asked. "I wasn't given one," I lowered my head in shame and sadness. "Then can I name you?" He asked, enthusiastically.

"Huh?" I raised my head in surprise. "Alisha… Your name is Alisha," he smiled.

"Alisha it is then," Balela said. "Relay the name to the government and municipality, Kanda."

I couldn't believe my ears. No one cared for me enough to give me a name. Not the seven married couples, not my sisters, not the scientists, not Zipporah. They instead ostracized me and gave me the worst name of all time, "Lilith".

But Sansula was different. He accepted me the moment he laid his eyes on me. And gave me a name, "Alisha". I will bear this name for the rest of my life and give all of my heart to this boy.

I ran up to Sansula and embraced him. "I love you, Sansula!" I cried.

I once sat alone with Sansula in his bedroom, and suggested he joins the Dutch Military. This was necessary for my plans. "But why do you want me to join the Dutch Military?" He asked.

"I want my husband to be masculine and strong," I answered.

10.3

One day, I stumbled upon Kanda and Balela discussing which Badilite would be a great candidate to become Benesha's future husband. And I recommended Tshikuta. I noticed that something was going on between these two. And I plan to destroy Benesha by taking him away from her in the future.

I was to sit next to Mandane on the flight to Greece. But I switched seats with Sansula so that she could meet him and become influenced by his essence. Mandane and Sansula are soulmates, I could tell.

She needs him in order to break free from her slothful nature. My way of destroying her was to give her a taste of her true self, only to remove it from her by causing a friction between her relationship with Sansula.

I once came across a video of Haniya on the internet, wherein she sang a popular song at the time. She made various videos of this kind.

Haniya already garnered a lot of views and engagement due to her extraordinary talent. But I exacerbated her growth by hacking into the video platform. My plan was to destroy her through her music career in the future.

Indeed, I also scheduled a pilgrimage to the House of God at the same time Haniya's family did. So that she could meet Sansula, catch feelings for him and have illicit relations with him. I would also be able to use this as a means to destroy her.

I caused Eliza to catch feelings for Sansula. So that I could destroy her by making sure she would never get him. Her wealth will not avail her at all.

And I was the one who introduced Kayla to drugs and other intoxicants, by causing some girls who did drugs to befriend her. I knew she was resistant to these kinds of things. I only did it so that I could use the things she enjoys as a means to destroy her.

I wanted to go to Japan at the same time Minah did, so that I could show her my fiance and cause her to want him too. I will make sure she'll fail miserably.

But, during our holiday in Japan, I also came across Zipporah…

"Can I talk to her one-to-one?" She asked. Benesha and Sansula left. And Yeshaya wandered off somewhere.

"What is it you want to discuss with me in private?" I asked.

"What are you scheming behind the scenes?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to visit Tokyo with my fiance and sister. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Somehow, you picked the exact moment to visit Tokyo when Minah and Haniya are here, too. That can't be a coincidence."

"Do you have any evidence that I orchestrated this?" She didn't respond. "Silence. That's what I thought."

I walked away from her. Zipporah is the one person I absolutely cannot stand. She also challenged me during Maeve's 18th birthday party. She is an obstacle to my plans. So I need to dispose of her…

One day, in the summer of 2030, I scoured Sansula's military belongings in order to take some of his explosives.

I first caused a power outage in her area, so that all ring bell cameras and street cameras didn't function.

I went over to Zipporah's street and found her car. I attached the explosives to it and planted a spy camera on the car's front window so that I could watch them, and decide at what moment I should detonate the explosives.

I went back to my place and watched live footage of the inside of her car. She entered her vehicle with her husband Yeshaya.

Yeshaya has nothing to do with the conflict I have with his wife. But I am not going to wait until she's alone in the car. I need to use this opportunity to take her out.

"I don't have a good feeling about driving the car," she sighed. "Do you want me to take the wheel?" Her husband asked.

"It's not that. I have a bad feeling about this car altogether."

"But we just bought it!"

"I know… I know. I'm being ridiculous. Let's just go."

Zipporah started the engine and drove out of the parking spot. At that very moment I detonated the bombs. The car exploded and was in flames. I just murdered Zipporah Mazzi; my greatest hindrance in accomplishing my goals.

Everyone from the seven married couples and their daughters attended the funeral on the next day. And so did I, I went with the Badila Family.

The homunculi sisters were crying, and so were other homunculi present at the funeral. Among them were Maurits and Zephyrine Adelman, Hidde de Ridder, Eleonore Houthakker and Tifsa Iqbal.

The first day of Utrecht Metropolitan Self-Development School began not too long after the funeral. I walked past the gates with my suitcase, and came face to face with all of my beloved seven sisters. It reminded me of the day they entered my room a decade ago.

"I wondered when we'd see each other like this again, my sisters," I smiled.