Aleph: Nesale Alke, Thorakital Warrant Officer

Nesaie (Νησαιε in classical Greek). In Greek Mythology this was the name of one of the fifty Nereids, sea nymphs, daughters of the Titan Nereus. Worshipped by seamen, Nereids were considered benign beings; they were part of Poseidon’s entourage and symbolized the beauty of the sea. Nesaie, also known as Nesea or Nesaea, was the nursemaid of Aristeus, son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene.

Alkê (Αλκη in classical Greek). Mythical personification of strength, dexterity and courage in battle. Alkê was one of the spirits (daemons) of battle who gave power to Zeus’ Aegis.

Notes of Thamyris the Aoidos for the S.S.S. Information Service. “There are two quite distinct women living inside Nesaie Alkê’s body. When she was first introduced to me, I couldn’t understand how was it that such a pleasant and shy young lady called Nesaie could be warrant officer of a unit such as the Thorakitai. I met her again during the Morat attack on camp Lykastos. I didn’t recognize her at first, covered in alien blood, barking orders and spitting insults like a barracks sergeant. She was not Nesaie anymore, she was Alkê, the battle spirit, and she saved my life. Two nights later I met her once more at the canteen, she was back to being sweet Nesaie, all smiles and charm… until I wanted to show my gratitude for being saving my life. Then she shot me a “touch-me-and-you-are-dead” glance and I understood that, suddenly, I was back in front of Alkê. In that moment I pretended I have recognized someone in the distance and slipped into the crowd.”

During the initial phase of the instruction of Nesaie TN-083, the monitors thought the personality pattern combination programs of ALEPH’s Aspects had it wrong. The sweet and syrupy personality of Nesaie TN-083 did not match that of an assault soldier. Such a delightful girl, so kind and charming, who was always worried about her squadmates and who hated confrontation, could possibly only be the regimental pet, working as rearguard staff, but not a warrior. That young lady was not made for the frontline; there didn’t seem to be a place for her on the battlefield… until live ammo maneuvers started. In that moment, with bullets flying overhead, Nesaie underwent a drastic transformation, turning into the finest exemplar of the Thorakitai warrior. With a voice hoarse from adrenaline, she took command of her team and completed the exercise in record time. Everyone was amazed. This determined, tough and implacable woman was no longer the tender Nesaie they all knew. However, when the exercises ended, Nesaie, to everyone’s astonishment, turned back into the same sweet doll she used to be.

These changes in her character, so sudden and radical, had the instructors of the S.S.S. totally perplexed. The psychogenesis experts of the Section determined than Nesaie has a secondary personality, some kind of subprogram not fully integrated into her Aspect that generally stays inactive, in a latent state. This personality activates only in stressful situations as a survival mechanism with intensely high aggression levels. Their final evaluation declared that Nesaie has an unstable personality, and that her Aspect is unbalanced because of some failure in the psychogenesis process.

Nevertheless, the purpose of the Subsection is to search for and exploit any imbalance as a strategy against EI’s pure logic and on the other hand, Nesaie’s combat performance was excellent. So, the total memory erasure that would be standard procedure in an Aspect presenting defects or deficiencies, was commuted. Nesaie was subjected to a constant monitoring process and deployed to Paradiso along with her squadmates so more could be learned about her peculiar state in live fire situations.

And there, in real combat, the tender Nesaie again turned into the relentless warrior admired by all the Thorakitai. On Paradiso’s battlefields Nesaie’s brothers-in-arms gave the name Alkê to the warrior personality that appeared only in the clamor of battle. For the Thorakitai, it is this mythological fierce and bloody spirit that possesses and controls their sweet Nesaie, sweeping her away until the action is over. And while they love the sugary Nesaie, when the maelstrom breaks loose it is Alkê they would prefer to see at the front of their ranks, calling the bravest of them to battle.