The Pulse of the Republic

A Slow Burn

Eventually, as the wind began to kick up again and the storm became more than simple rain showers, they broke apart, and ran back towards the facility. Quinn slid on her bare feet as they ran, her leading the way, through the deserted halls. When they reached her room, she flipped on the 'Do Not Disturb' sign, and stepped behind a folding curtain to change.

"You know," Rex said, trying not to be too distracted as he saw the tunic thrown over the screen, and Quinn silhouetted behind it as she dried herself off. "This is my home."

Quinn's head poked out from behind the curtain, "Are you serious? This is where you were..."

"Made, born, grown," said Rex shrugging and smiling. "Use whatever word you want, but yes. This is where most clones come from."

"Well then you need to show me around," said Quinn, emerging from behind the curtain, wearing a pair of loose trousers and another tunic. Her bare feet padded across the floor as she came to stand in front of him. She bent slightly pressed her lips to his, simultaneously reaching down and grasping the hem of his shirt, and pulling it up. She broke the kiss to pull it over his head, then back away slightly, "But first you should really get changed, because I'm getting distracted."

Rex chuckled and stood, once again demonstrating that he was at least a head and a half taller than her new frame. "Oops." He leaned down and kissed her once, teasingly, then backed away behind the curtain, stretching as he went. "It feels good to be out that pod. I always hated spending time in those things."

"You said that they it saved your life, right?" Quinn called over to him, and he laughed, "When you spend eight months evolving in one of those pods, with nothing else to distract your newly formed consciousness, you lose your appreciation for medical marvels. Speaking of which, you look a little different."

"Is that a problem?" she said, some what defensively. She was having a hard enough time getting used to her new body without worrying about what it meant to Rex.

"No, I was just curious." he said casually. "Are the changes permanent, or are you going to, I don't know, grow out of it?"

Now it was Quinn's turn to laugh. "It was a full transmodification. They re-wrote my DNA Rex. I'm going to look this way for the rest of my life. I'll age this way, and eventually die this way. It's not really the kind of thing that you grow out of."

"Good," he said, coming out from behind the screen, wearing another one of the under armor suits, and a pair of boots. He came to stand in front of her, and set his hands, still callused and scarred from years of action, on her bare shoulders. "So you'll be safe with this new identity. You're going to need a new name."

She nodded, and they walked together from her room and towards the central area of the facility. "Bard took care of that. Along with the Tracker, he's send samples of my old DNA in order to find my Father's location, but I'll be able to scan my new DNA and create the new identity. I'll be starting from scratch. A clean slate."

"That must be nice." said Rex, not attempting to hide the note of envy in his voice. "Any ideas about what you might want to be called?"

He was leading her past the clone training grounds, and as she looked down into the dining hall, she saw a mix of clones, varying in age, all getting their meals together. Quinn hesitated for a moment as her eyes fell on a young boy. He couldn't be more than eight years old, but he had Rex's eyes, the same dark brown. And the boy next to him, probably about sixteen, had Rex's smile. Slightly unnerved, Quinn turned back to Rex. "Hm?"

"I said, do you know what you want your new name to be?"

"I don't know." she said, and took his hand as they walked past all of the clones. A Kamino female walked past them, and turned her head to stare at their intertwined hands. Quinn noticed, and half smiled. "I'm going to have to invent and entire history to go with it, so it's going to have to be good."