A partner?  For me?  I still couldn't see the reasoning of it.  Maybe if this partner showed some promise, she might be helpful.  But for all I know she could very well simply get in my way all the time.  What's worse was that this wasn't just a normal partner I was getting.  She wasn't even human.  I was getting a freak.  A test-tube subject.  A clone, for crying out loud.  I didn't know much about Doctor Haelstrom's "doll" project, but he and his apprentice Yamoto had better damn pray that I don't end up with a greenhorn.

Apparently the doctor noticed her discomfort.  "I know you're unsure of this experiment, Juli.  I'm a bit anxious, myself.  I'm taking up the project after Haelstrom's hiatus and I'm not sure whether I can live up to the task."

Juli ignored the doctor's concerns.  "Can you tell me why I'm the one who has to beta-test this girl for you?"

"I don't decide these things.  Bison, himself, made the decision.  You should feel really proud, actually."

"Hmm... maybe.  What's her name, anyway?  You told me that she was simply born from a lab and that she'd have memories which you've already programmed into her, but you never even gave me that one little bit of information."

"It's a funny story actually."  Dr. Yamoto replied.  "For some reason, I just decided the name would be Juni."

Juli raised an eyebrow.  "Juni?"

"Yea, I know it sounds kind of similar to your name, but there was just no question for me."  The doctor sighed.  "Even before the doll project was revealed to me, I've known about it for a while.  I thought of a girl for a story.  I enjoy writing spy novels in what little spare time I have nowadays, you know.  If I had a choice, I would have been a Shadowloo agent like you.  I never knew her name, but I began to have these absolutely crystal clear dreams of her.  She had short blond hair and wasn't exactly Lara-Croft but there she was, utterly real.  At first I was simply the writer, watching from afar.  But one night, I found myself IN the story, and not just writing it.  I saw her, travelled with her, talked with her... and I knew for some reason that her name had to be Juni."

Juli only had two words to say.  "You're insane."

"Perhaps."  Yamoto joked.  "But still, it was declared by Dr. Haelstrom that her name would be Juni without me even bringing it up, so it had to be some sort of omen... if you believe in those things of course."

"But... Juni and Juli?!?"  Juli protested.  "That sounds even worse than... June and July!"

"Hey, I think that if I keep this up, we might be able to have special agents named for every month of the year."  Dr. Yamoto laughed.  Juli glared at him before his voice changed to a surprised tone.  "What?  Okay, Juli, so I guess that joke wasn't in good taste.  Juni should be ready any minute now.  I just need to file some more papers then I'll check on her again."

Juli continued to question the doctor about her future partner as he sorted his files.  "You're sure that she'll be competant, right?"

"Definately."  The doctor filed away some more papers then put the rest of them away.  "She's genetically enhanced, of course, and she has all the memories of being trained since childhood.  And she should work well with you, since I went out of my way to give her memories of you, too.  Speaking of that..."

The doctor handed Juli a disk.  "Here's the memories I gave to her about you, just to prevent any discretion which could confuse her.  I suggest you read up on it.  It's from your viewpoint too so you won't have to worry about mentioning to her something you shouldn't know, thus making her think that you're psychic or some other silly thing.  Right now, her memory is set so she'll think she's awakening from a coma after an almost-failed mission, so make sure you treat her as such."

The doctor and Juli began to walk to the "infirmary" room.  "So you're sure that she'll be able to handle everything?"

"I already told you.  You won't be dissappointed."  The doctor replied.  The instant he finished his sentence, a loud thud came from the infirmary room.  Yamoto quickly opened the door and found Juni on the floor of the room.  Juli sighed.

Oh great, she's an utter klutz.  I won't be dissappointed, huh?

Juni got up and brushed herself off, attempting to act like nothing was wrong.  The "elite" Shadowloo agent saluted.  "Good day Doctor Yamoto.  Agent Juni ready to report for duty after a short reprieve."

There was a slight pause while the doctor simply stared.  Juli simply stood in the background and didn't do anything.  Finally, the doctor sprang forward and hugged Juni hard.

"Oh God!  I can't believe it!  You're really here!  It's really you!"

Juni gasped for breath.  "Dr. Yamoto, I didn't think the wound was that serious..."

The doctor quickly backed up and regained his composure.  "Er, you're right.  It's just been a long time.  Sorry about that.  Why don't you get re-aquainted with your old partner?  I have some records to fill now."

The doctor quickly walked out of the room, although Juli noticed some tears in his eyes.  Obviously the good doctor needed some lessons in containing emotions when they aren't appropriate.

Crazy insane nutsoid doctor.  Great.  It's obvious by the confused look on my new partner's face that he obviously hadn't given her any memory of him acting like THAT before.  Now she probably is getting the wrong idea.

Juli watched as her new partner to-be walked up to and looked at her.

"You're finally awake."  Juli remarked.

She took the oppurtunity while waiting for her partner to respond to get a good look at her.  Juni had short blond hair, and was slightly shorter than Juli.  She also wore the same black Shadowloo uniform that Juli wore.  She pretty much looked exactly like Dr. Yamoto described her.  Though... apparently... perhaps there was one other possibly important thing about Juni that the doctor failed to mention to her.

Okay, why is my new partner staring at my breasts?!?

Apparently Juni realized that she was doing something wrong because she quickly blurted out, "Oh.  Yea!  Of course."

Juli figured that she'd better not be too nice, since she didn't want THAT type of partner.  "You should be more careful next time.  Bison doesn't tolerate failure."

"Affirmative.  But I advise you be more careful, yourself, the next time we decide that it's your turn to give the orders." Juni replied.

Her new partner sounded like she was joking, but Juli wasn't too sure.  At least it assured Juli that what she thought her partner was previously thinking of was probably a fluke.  But what was this about how she had to be more careful when it was her "turn to give the orders?"

This was annoying.  "Oh, so it was my fault?"

"Er..."  Juni stuttered, apparently confused that Juli didn't remember what happened to cause her to get into that coma.  Mainly because whatever it was, it didn't happen.  "Don't you remember?  You..."

Great.  So you made her think it was MY fault?  Gee, thanks a lot, Dr. Yamoto...

"Nevermind."  Juli interrupted, although she was still clearly annoyed.  "Forget it.  I trust you're ready?  We recieve our next mission tomorrow.  There's no time for any more relaxation.  Next time there won't be any mistakes, as long as you can fulfill your half of the job.  You can do that, right?"

"Of course."  Juni quickly replied.  "I'm just as fit as I ever was."

"Very well then.  We can meet up again tomorrow.  I have some things to finish, today."

The two agents nodded to each other before parting.

Juli spent the rest of the day frantically looking at her computer screen reading the files on that memory disk, praying that she'd have enough of it memorized by tomorrow for her partner to not notice that she didn't remember their "past" at all.