by Jason Taylor
Suki’s mother looked up from the virtual book she was reading.
“Yes, I am. And who are you?” Mrs. Choy’s smile was genuine and warm. She inclined her head to look up at Jill, one hand raised to shade her eyes from the light of the virtual sun.
“I’m Dr. Clarence, from the lab. I don’t believe we’ve met,” Jill said.
“Oh yes, of course. I recognize you from the live-casts,” Mrs. Choy responded, a small worry-line appearing between her eyebrows. “Is everything quite alright?”
“Oh yes, everything is fine. I’ve just come to let you know we need to do a physical checkup on Suki. We know its unscheduled, but as you’re aware, we make the health of your child our number one priority.”
“This is rather irregular, isn’t it? Why wasn’t I sent a notification? I could have brought her in myself if you needed me to.”
Jill shot a glance at Suki. She was in the process of pulling a toy truck out of the hands of a young boy. “This checkup is important. We decided it would be more efficient if we gave you a ride.”
Mrs. Choy nodded. “Well, I suppose that’s thoughtful of you. Wait just a moment while I pack up my stuff.”
While Mrs. Choy gathered her things, Jill watched the little boy stand up. He was holding onto his truck tightly with both hands, his face red with anger. Suki pulled hard, tearing the toy from the boy’s grip and knocking him off balance. He took a few steps to recover and then moved toward Suki, fists balled up, ready to lash out. But Suki stepped deftly out of the way, pivoted in a short arc, and swung the toy truck into the back of the boy’s head. The blow propelled him face first into the grass, where he lay still for the space of one long breath. Then he pushed himself upright and opened his mouth wide, a howling cry ready to emerge.
Before he could make a noise, Suki moved in. She pushed him to his back and dropped her knee onto his neck. All that came out of his mouth was a soft squeak. As the boy fought for breath, Suki inspected the toy and then dropped it carelessly to the ground, already bored with it. The boy struggled to breathe, writhing on the ground as Suki added more weight, increasing the pressure on his throat.
Jill stood frozen. Suki looked so innocent, the violent behavior was that much more shocking. Jill was about to intervene when Mrs. Choy turned to let Suki know they were leaving. Before her mother could see what had happened, Suki stood up and walked over, a bright smile on her face, the boy forgotten behind her.
“Momma, is it time to go?”
“Yes honey, I’m sorry we can’t stay any longer. This nice lady is going to take us to the lab for a checkup.”
“Ok Momma, I’m ready.”
Alpha rode with Jill, Suki, and Mrs. Choy in one vehicle, the rest of the squad returning to the lab separately. She didn’t want the presence of her squad to alarm Suki. Alpha was going to be happy when the clone was secured and sedated. She didn’t know what was wrong with these clone children, and quite frankly she didn’t care. All she cared about was seeing this mission through to the end.
Alpha reviewed the other mission data while they were in transit. Suki was one of the last of the children to be picked up. The other clones were already tranquilized and placed in a series of secure cells. Most of the other extraction missions had gone off without a hitch. Unfortunately, Falcon squad had stepped into a casualty situation. Their target clone had killed her original before the squad had arrived.
The Falcon squad leader had been notified, en-route, as soon as the mother’s vital-signs flat-lined. As a result, the squad had transitioned into combat protocol – tac-armor energized, needle-guns drawn, their interfaces linked and primed. When they arrived at the target location, they had found the apartment dark and still.
The mother was found suffocated in her bed. The clone, Ava, was playing calmly on the floor, rolling the beads from her mother’s necklace against the cold tiles, listening intently to the sound they made. When Ava saw the squad enter the room, she grinned at them as if they were there to entertain her.
“May I have your gun?” she asked the squad leader.
They injected a mild tranquilizer to keep her compliant, and returned her to the lab. Toxicology reports showed that the mother had been drugged before she’d been strangled. How the child knew to drug her mother, was beyond the scope of the initial analysis.
Back at the lab, Alpha followed Jill, Suki, and Mrs. Choy into an examination room. Once they were all inside, she triggered her interface to close and lock the door. Step one was complete. The clone was secured. Next was sedation. Jill’s job was to perform a routine checkup and then make up an excuse for either an injection or a neural probe, either of which could be used to sedate Suki, after which they would transport her to a cell. Alpha stood immobile by the door as Jill got to work.
“Mrs. Choy, we’ve recently discovered that there may be a slight genetic abnormality in some of the clones. Nothing to be concerned with, but we need to check Suki and correct any issues that we find,” Jill said.
“Oh my. Are you sure I shouldn’t be worried? That sounds bad,” Mrs. Choy responded.
“May I call you Gurata?” Jill asked
“Yes, of course.”
“Gurata, the abnormality appears to be latent and shouldn’t express itself as a health problem. But we want to be absolutely sure. Suki’s wellbeing is essential to us,” Jill continued.
Alpha watched Suki as Jill talked. Suki’s eyes darted between her mother and Jill, then she looked appraisingly at Alpha. Alpha saw a flash of recognition as Suki realized what Alpha’s role was. She observed Suki’s heart rate increase, followed by a marked dilation of her pupils. Adrenaline response. It was time to take action. She would have to sedate the clone immediately. Alpha quick-drew her needle gun and brought it up, aiming at Suki’s center of mass.
When she sighted down the gun, Suki was no longer there, moving faster than Alpha would have thought possible. Alpha tracked her weapon right as Suki jumped on top of the examination table, armed herself with a med-probe in one hand, a loaded needle in the other, then dove for cover behind her mother.
Mrs. Choy took several faltering steps back before catching herself against the table. An image of Mrs. Choy’s confused face passed across Alpha’s vision as she kept her focus on Suki, trying to anticipate where she would appear next.
In a flash of movement, Suki popped out, throwing the needle at Alpha’s face before disappearing back behind Mrs. Choy. Alpha dodged down and left as the needle skimmed past her head, embedding itself in the wall behind her. She carefully stood and circled left, sidestepping smoothly in an attempt to improve her firing angle.
Suki emerged again, probe whistling as she swung it in a long arc at the end of its lanyard. Alpha watched in horror as the end of the probe struck Jill in the temple. The doctor's eyes rolled back, legs crumpling as she dropped to the floor with a meaty thud.
Suki bared her teeth and barked out a yip of pleasure, her eyes gleaming. Alpha brought the needle gun to bear and let a triad of needles fly.
Chapter 17
Jill felt the blow to her head, saw a flash of light, and knew she was going to hit the ground. For a while, she was aware of nothing. There was no pain. Then she was aware of being in a dark space. She stayed in that place for some time.
She opened her eyes and found herself in the midst of a dream.
She knew it was a dream because she was in the same gleaming, glowing city she’d seen so many times in recurring dreams over the past year. The dreams had started the day the lab was nationalized, the same day that she had been tricked by Icarus into following the Matt-construct to the farmhouse where she had given away the cloning project’s secrets. Ever since that day, she’d been dreaming about this city.
In all the other dreams, she had been on the outside, separated from the city by a body of water. This time was different. This time she was on the inside.
She was surrounded by wonder, the city glowing and pulsing around her. Buildings soared upward, elegant
and curved, each alive with its own light. The street she was on, if it could even be called that – a rolling, rambling gap between the buildings – was filled with the presence of Others. She could sense them. She could feel them pushing into the space around her. She could hear their murmurs, but she couldn’t see them. Wherever she looked, the Others were forced to the corners of her vision.
It didn’t matter, not when compared to the overwhelming wonder that surrounded her. Her heart was full, brimming with joy. Her mind was electric, ideas snapping like lightning. She was filled with a manic sort of intelligence. And the Others. Even if she couldn’t see them, she could feel them. She knew they loved her. And she loved them. They’d known each other for an eternity. They were connected, all a part of some great and glorious whole.
She felt that she could see both the surface of objects and also deep into them, as if she could see through the superficial framework of reality. It was as if she was in a higher dimension, the interconnectedness of everything suddenly plain to see. This is what it must feel like for a two-dimensional being to glimpse a three-dimensional world, she thought to herself. This is the real world. I’ve always lived in a shadow. I’ve lived in the shadow of a shadow.
It wasn’t only the physical objects that seemed this way. Her thoughts and emotions were charged in ways she had never before experienced. The joy she felt diminished all past joy in comparison. All previous thought seemed childish and naive compared to what she now knew. Who was this other person that she had been, she wondered. How could she ever have been satisfied with that ghost of a life, when this glory had been waiting for her all along?
She let herself be pulled along by the Others. They led her into a warren of interconnected rooms. Each room a new wonder. Food to taste – glorious in its fullness and complexity. Music to hear – incredible in its grace and expression. People to meet – each a new soulmate, another individual whom she had known all her life and beyond.
The rooms were connected by meandering pathways, covered with a glowing mesh-like roof, the colors from the buildings pulsing into the mesh and down the walls. Each pulse had significance. Each color had something to say. Everything around her, every mote of dust, was infused with meaning. The Others nodded. Yes, they said. This is the way it has always been. How could you have forgotten?
I haven’t forgotten. There was simply a time when I didn’t remember, she responded. I remember now. I remember everything.
Then she felt herself pulled away, the lights growing dimmer, her joy turning to ash, her connection to this new world violently severed.
***
Jill woke to the sound of screaming.
Chapter 18
Jill’s head throbbed and the tile floor was cold against her cheek. She heard a scream, then the pounding of feet followed by shouting. She opened her eyes to pandemonium. From where she was lying she could see Alpha along with the three other members of her squad, all in tactical armor now. To her right, she could see Mrs. Choy’s slender legs, and beyond that, the examination table. Her eyes fixated on the buckles of Mrs. Choy's red pumps.
Bravo was shouting at Mrs. Choy to drop to the ground. Mrs. Choy was screaming, a high, keening sound that pierced through all the other chaos.
Jill pushed herself to her hands and knees, levered herself up, and sunk back onto her haunches. She was dizzy and her head hurt, but she was mobile. She scanned the room, looking for an opportunity to make a difference.
“Suki, drop the probe. Drop the probe now!” Charlie yelled. Her body armor made her menacing and faceless, the tactical helmet shiny and insectile. Alpha was still in street clothes, needle gun in hand, aiming at Suki, a pattern of small holes in the far wall showing evidence of each of her missed shots.
Suki was on the examination table standing behind her mother, the probe energized, held close to her mother’s neck. Her teeth were bared, eyes wild.
The situation was currently a stalemate. A very volatile stalemate. The soldiers couldn’t get a clean shot from where they stood, nor could they move forward as long as Suki was threatening her mother with the probe.
Mrs. Choy was rigid with fear as she faced the combat team, their guns pointing in her direction. Her daughter was on the table behind her, an arm wrapped tightly around her neck, the probe sparking inches away. The high pitched keening continued, Mrs. Choy’s eyes wide and uncomprehending.
Nobody was watching Jill. She racked her brain for something she could do, as the situation in the room teetered on the verge of collapse.
Suki made a hissing noise, the probe dipping closer to her mother’s neck. Charlie took a step forward, drawing a bead, trying to get a shot off on the clone, but she was moving erratically, unnaturally quick, her head bobbing in short, blurred movements. “Don’t have a clean shot boss,” Charlie transmitted, her voice cold and deadly.
Jill started to crawl, just as another round of shouting broke out from the squad. She heard the distinctive popping sound of needles as they disrupted the air above her. Jill took a deep breath, swallowed her fear and continued crawling toward the edge of the room, trying to get behind Suki. So far, the clone seemed to be focused on the soldiers, unaware of Jill or perhaps not yet recognizing her as a threat.
Once Jill was behind the table, she stood up and made eye contact with Alpha, just long enough to get her attention and transmit a message to her interface – “Cover me!” Then Jill made a move to grab Suki’s arm, attempting to pull the probe away from Mrs. Choy.
Suki was only seven years old. Jill knew that if she could get a grip on her, she could overpower her and the stand-off would end. But as soon as she sent the message to Alpha, Suki turned and swung the probe in Jill’s direction, the active tip sizzling through the air. Jill leapt backward in surprise, tripping over her feet, arms windmilling.
As Jill bobbled backward, Suki pounced, the probe closing in on Jill’s face. Jill’s back hit the wall, she had nowhere left to go. Her hands rose up in front of her face, a movement of involuntary self-protection as she braced for the probe to make contact, cringing away from the inevitable intrusion of neural signals that would enter her implant and brain.
Before Suki could make contact, Jill heard the soft sound of needles impacting flesh. Suki’s eyes widened, and her face went white, as the needles deployed their chemical and electrical payloads before exiting in soft puffs of blood from her shoulder, neck, and chest.
Suki’s momentum took her to the floor where she rolled to her side and then lay still, the probe clattering to rest in the corner.
Jill sank slowly to the floor, hyperventilating in shock, her back flat against the wall. The soldiers flowed around Mrs. Choy, securing Suki with a neck clamp interfaced with her implant to ensure she stayed unconscious until they had her locked in a cell. Suki’s hand twitched involuntarily, the fingers slowly curling and uncurling.
Jill’s clasped her hands together, trying to calm their trembling. She was sitting in the executive conference room with Tros. She’d been called there, ordered really, directly after the incident in the exam room. She clenched her hands, willing them to stillness. She was angry, and she was confused, and she needed to know what the hell was going wrong with the clones.
“You’ve looked better,” Tros commented
“I’ve felt better,” Jill responded. Her right hand moved involuntarily to her temple, probing the tender spot where Suki had hit her with the probe.
“You should get some rest. You won’t do any of us any good if you drop dead of exhaustion.”
“I don’t think I can sleep. Not now.” Jill wanted to change the subject. “Do you have any new data on the problem?”
Tros nodded. “We’ve interviewed most of the originals, everyone except for Mrs. Choy. We had to sedate her after what happened with Suki. We’ve also completed the debriefs with the combat teams. I took the liberty of pushing the complete analysis to your node.”
“You’ve read through it?” Jill asked.
“Ye
s.”
“What are we dealing with?”
“I honestly don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me. Each of the clones has had an unremarkable childhood until the past week. All test results have been within expectations: medical, behavioral, psychological, academic. Everything has been as you would expect, accounting for the variety of genetic information bestowed upon the clones by each original. Then in the last week, something changed.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know, but we’ve found some intriguing patterns. All the clones followed a similar path. For instance, heart rate, blood pressure and other indicators of stress have been trending steadily downward for each of them.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“I’m not so sure. The readings are no longer what would be considered normal for a seven-year-old child. For instance, it would be normal for a child to have a stress reaction while experiencing the death of their mother, however, Ava had no reaction at all. Her medical readings were the same as if she were sitting on the couch reading a book.”
“That is extraordinarily odd.”
“There have also been changes to their behavioral patterns. I had the team run an analytics engine against their interpersonal interactions and they picked up a highly suggestive set of readings indicating veiled anti-social behavior, starting between two and five days ago.”
“Anti-social how?” Jill asked
“Increased aggressiveness. Decreased empathy. A marked reduction in neuroticism.”
“Children can be aggressive, and empathy isn’t a trait you normally associate with seven-year-olds. Are you sure the readings are outside of normal?”
“Can you tell me that what you experienced with Suki in the examination room today was normal?” Tros countered.
“Far from it. That was more than anti-social. That was… I don’t know what that was.” Jill trailed off.