Tom started with one of the families he had helped before. It was a small group of twelve people. They were grateful because Tom had brought medicine when their oldest member, whose name was Anna, got sick, and thus he had saved her life. Anna had been a Scrappie the longest of the bunch and she had helped the others settle down in the Scrappie compound. They looked at her as their matriarch, and Tom knew they would listen to him if he could win Anna to his side.
That first visit, he went with Mel, knowing fully how Mel was able to touch people’s hearts with her gentle and loving ways. They were invited to the back porch, where Anna was seated and covered with a blanket, apparently feeling cold even on the relatively warm evening. The other members of the group seated themselves on the porch or on the grass, facing their two unexpected guests.
Tom started by asking about Anna’s health and offered a small gift of dry beans and eggs. Then he announced that he had something very close to his heart that he would like to share with them. Without much preamble, he told his hosts how his son had joined him recently to live with the Scrappies, how he had almost died, and how he had been replaced by his own clone. He described, without going into too many details that would give away his true name, how his son’s clone came to meet with them too.
“I was so humbled by the realization that in front of me. I had not one, but two sons, both integral parts of me, bearing my essence, without any evidence of one being any less or any more than the other.” Tom felt his eyes stinging with real tears, even though he had rehearsed what he would say.
“And I thought of the other clones, true human beings kept in suspended animation at the cloning facility, some never getting to replace an original, or whose organs are harvested for transplants. More so, I thought of all of us, and our hard life here in the compound, and of the horror we feel of being captured.
“Is this state of affairs ever going to end? Is my life going to be any different than it is today? What am I living for? Until a short while ago, I was living with the hope that my son was safe. Now I live to ensure both my sons have a chance to live, and not just live, but to enjoy their lives, have a family and children, have a future.
“This is not possible under the current circumstances. There is a powerful enemy pursuing me and my sons. That’s why I was in hiding. I don’t want to hide anymore. I want to fight. If I die, I want to die with a purpose. I want to die fighting. But maybe I don’t need to die. Maybe I can win this battle. But I can’t win alone.
“My dream is to bring freedom to the clones and to take control over the security forces of the city. I want to help the Scrappies have a better, safer life. I want to bring food here and help to build a sustainable society that’s integrated in the city structure. This place can transform itself dramatically and become a place where people can live in dignity. In a short time, we can change the rules of the city, making the transition between classes easier, and the choices more flexible. Believe me when I say that I also have powerful friends who can help us achieve that.
“What I need is for you to be on my side until the end. To die with me or to live a better life than you are living now. What do you think?”
Tom felt his heart ready to explode with the deep emotion he felt as he finished his appeal, afraid that he had said too much too soon, that he was too emotional and confusing to these people, who looked at him in absolute astonishment.
Anna straightened herself in the wicker chair in which she was seated. She looked at Tom for a while, as if seeing him for the first time, then she bluntly asked, “Are you drunk, Tom?”
“I’m not under the influence of anything, I swear,” Tom pleaded, scared that his approach had been wrong.
“There’s nothing to talk about. I thank you for what you did for me, but I advise you to get the hell out of here, before my boys here throw you out or worse,” Anna raised her voice in an angry tone.
Tom tried not to be deterred by her explosion of anger. “Please, listen to me.” The old woman interrupted him before Tom had a chance to say anything else, “Do you think that because I’m frail, I’m also stupid? That I survived all these years living here in the Scrappie compound because I was a dreamer? You’re wrong. Such gibberish kills people. Leaders such as yourself have outright disappeared from among us. In order to survive, I had to be cunning and stay under the radar. I had to think of myself and my own. People here don’t thrive by collaborating with each other, but by competing and proving to be stronger than their adversaries. We build small allegiances with the other families so we don’t kill each other over stupid feuds. That’s all there is to it. Now move on, Tom. Troublemaker or spy or whatever you are,” Anna finished her speech with a deep cough, as if the turmoil sickened her.
Tom stood, a grave look on his face. “How much longer do you think you will stay under the radar? When I controlled the security forces I knew all about you. You stayed out of my way so I ignored you, but how long do you think the clone that has taken my place and whoever created him will go on ignoring you? Haven’t you noticed how many Scrappies have disappeared in the last few months? It’s just a matter of time before they send forces here to clean up. If we succeed, I’ll be back in charge of city security, and you won’t have to worry. I would let you be; I may even be able to help you out in other ways. If we fail, at least the waiting will be over. Do you still want to kick me out or you think we should talk some more?”
Tom’s last words made a very strong impression on everybody, Anna appearing to have lost some of her anger. She revealed that in fact she knew about his true identity. He was, after all, a public figure. When he started to show himself among the Scrappies, she thought he was a spy, poorly disguised at that, and then she realized he must be in trouble himself. The original mistrust was replaced slowly by a new found respect for this powerful man, due to his small acts of kindness and justice. Yet, until he himself admitted to his true identity, she could not bring herself to follow him. Now, she was willing to talk more.
Anna became eager to find out details of Tom’s experience, and Tom shared with them a lot of information, after making them promise that they would keep it a secret. He assured them the reason that he trusted them was because of the high stature Anna held in the Scrappie compound. Tom stated that he was sure that Anna would never agree to share her life and house with people who didn’t deserve her complete confidence and trust.
It turned out that two of Anna’s family were clones themselves. Somehow Tom had the feeling this was what had won them over to his cause.
They moved into the house and conversation extended into the night. Anna expressed her allegiance, in view of the fact that the people she cared about were still young and deserved a chance for a better life. If she died, she said, it would not be for naught.
At the end of the conversation, Tom remembered that he had one more thing to ask. “Anna, you’ve probably been here the longest. I need you to help me get to the other families in the compound so we can bring everyone together.”
Anna promised that she would do that, starting by asking a few group leaders to come over so she could talk to them. She knew them all, for better or worse, and was able to discern who would make a good ally and who would turn their back on them or worse, turn them in.
Tom could see his own sense of accomplishment mirrored in Mel’s eyes, bright and luminous, her smile looking at their new friends. We won this round, dear Mel. Ready for the next.
Anna was true to her word. She invited Tom to come over each time she was ready to introduce him to another Scrappie leader. Tom had a powerful way of persuading people and making them believe in him and trust him. He truly and genuinely cared about them, and it showed. It was not a fabrication. He was the real thing. And those people had a sharp eye for phonies.
21
Next, Tom started to visit the other Scrappie families with small gifts of food and medicine, and began building relationships with them. Jules and Mel came with him sometimes, eager to help To
m in his endeavor, and to keep the communication lines open.
Mel was especially dedicated to their new acquaintances, who she tried to help outside the scope of their initial visit. She felt sorry that most of the families they visited had nowhere near as much in terms of food sources or comfort. Very few raised chickens, even less had goats, rabbits, or other domestic animals. Almost none of them had vegetable gardens.
Within days, the Scrappie camp became full of energy, as if they were awakened to a true purpose in life. They were still careful not to talk to strangers outside of their small groups about any of it, always only to people they trusted with their lives.
Quite a few people were needed to take care of the newly released human beings as they awoke. Without memories, they would remain empty minded, unhooked automatically by the robotic arms attending to them. They had to anticipate the worst, assuming the clones would fall to the ground in utter panic and confusion. The very young ones were of particular concern.
Daniel taught them what to do to help with the rescue mission. Working with Jules, he made detailed plans to determine the step-by-step activities that would take place at the cloning facility. He explained to her the procedure he had used before.
The release sequence involved the draining of the amniotic fluid from the tube containing the clone, the lifting of the tube, the cutting of the umbilical cord, the suction of the amniotic fluid filling the lungs, and finally the withdrawal of the robotic arms holding their precious charge. Then the clones would need to be manually lifted onto the stretchers and carts Allan was constructing.
Obviously, for infants and young children, one helper would be sufficient. For the grown clones, two helpers were required. The procedure took about five minutes for each instance.
Serge had made inquiries and found out that the clinic hosted a few dozen clones, half of them less than three years of age, by normal standards. Together, he and Tom estimated that the overall rescue needed to take a maximum of ten minutes, after which they would be in jeopardy of being apprehended.
Jules and Daniel informed Tom that if the ten minute allotment could not be stretched, they needed a minimum of twenty helpers. Serge explained that the ten minute mark was a typical response time for the emergency services of the city. There would be no time for even a basic memory transfer. The time crunch began to give Daniel second thoughts.
“I’m afraid this is a disaster waiting to happen,” Daniel told Tom. “I’m all for the release of the clones, but they are literally doomed if we get caught. The Scrappies could not take care of them in that condition. Maybe we should leave them alone for now.”
Tom replied that that was a risk they had to take, that there was no going back to having doubts. If they failed and the clones died, at least it would prove that somebody fought for the basic right of a human being to be free.
Serge confirmed that there were four guards on watch in the west wing at all times, with a change occurring every four hours. They had strict orders to keep everyone away from the area. Two guards were posted at the entrance to the west wing corridor, the other two were posted on both sides of the door leading to the holding chamber, where the clones were kept. The distance to that door was approximately fifty feet, with other corridors intersecting the main one. There were doors an all sides leading to laboratories, storage rooms, operating rooms, and consultation offices. The east entrance to the facility, both for personnel and public access, had two guards, one on the outside and one monitoring the movements of people and vehicles around the clinic from the inside.
Serge was to show up at the east wing entrance to the clinic with two security men under the pretense of a routine inspection. Once inside, they were to disable both guards. He was sure he would have no difficulties with this since he was a commander and second in rank to the head of Secure-IT. His word would not be questioned and such checks were not out of the ordinary. In addition to that, he had no memory of any instance in the past where the cloning facility had been attacked, and therefore the guards were surely pretty relaxed while on duty.
Once the guards were out of the way, Serge would clear the path for Daniel, Jules, and Mel, who would coordinate the release and transportation of the clones. Allan would stay outside to coordinate the overall departure of the entire group of helpers and clones to the Scrappie compound.
Serge would allow five minutes to pass before he and a total of seven trusted security would initiate their second mission of moving to the secured area in the west wing. He would try to get the four guards to surrender peacefully; if not, they would need to disable them.
Serge’s task was to open the clone holding area and find out what was happening there because in reality, no one knew for sure what lay behind those doors. If the clones were being kept in stasis, Serge would not proceed with their release. Instead, he was to instruct his men to guard it until Tom could reveal it to the city council.
If the council had clones they weren’t aware of, it would be a valuable playing card in getting them to understand something suspicious was going on. From there, a thorough investigation would be under way and the reason and the people behind Tom’s unfortunate experience hopefully revealed.
All of these events would precede Tom’s own task of exposing of Thomas for who he truly was in front of all the troops. Right after gaining control of the secured area, Serge would alert Thomas through the routine alert channels. Following protocol, Thomas would most likely issue a code RED that signified the highest level alert and order all the able men of the security team to report to headquarters for further orders. Tom would already be there in hiding, waiting for everybody to be present before he showed himself and confronted Thomas. Lan would go with him, because he knew the location and the people, even if only from the memories of his brother, and David, who might be needed for computer hacking in case last minute changes to the access codes to the Secure-IT building and arsenal were encountered.
Having helped Secure-IT develop mob control techniques, Tom knew he needed some agents dispersed in the crowd who could turn the troops on his side through their behavior and well selected words. Serge reminded Tom of two such men, people whom Tom had helped in the past. Other than that, they had to count heavily on Tom’s charisma and his ability to influence his men. He shouldn’t have a problem with that, because in truth he cared deeply and genuinely for them, and they loved him back. Thomas couldn’t even compare with Tom, Serge stated, not after only a few months of a cold and impersonal presence in the midst of his men, and lacking the previous memories of the rightful leader.
At their last meeting, Tom declared the plans to be in the final stages. A few of the Scrappie leaders were invited as well. Nobody could say that they were careless, or that it was a futile endeavor. It was in truth a fight for their chance at a better life, something worth dying for. The next evening their mission was cleared to proceed.
22
The day of the planned attack was a Saturday, knowing that everybody at the clinic would be at home for the weekend. Jules was on her way to the Scrappie compound. She had spent the previous night at her mother’s place, having felt the need to be with her mother before the important mission in which she could potentially lose her life. She knew she couldn’t share what was happening with her mother, but she didn’t want to feel any regret of not expressing her feelings of love for the middle-aged woman, abandoned by everyone she had ever loved.
Her mother had seemed surprised by the visit, but also overjoyed to have her Jules under her roof once more. Jules told her that she visited to say that it was possible that soon she would come back for good, and that she just wanted to see if her mother was all right. Jules’ sudden return a few weeks back had taken a toll on her, and a bout of depression had settled in soon after.
Walking home through the forest separating the Scrappie compound from the city, Jules kept thinking of all the things that led to that moment, especially the realization she was a clone.
Only Lan
could understand me, she thought. Dear Lan, who I abhorred on that first encounter. Little did I know we were similar in such a fundamental way, coming into existence as copies of someone else. That in a way, we owe our lives to the decision of a human being, outside of an act of love-making.
Jules felt close to Lan. His presence helped her stay assured that being a clone wasn’t alienating her friends, that she was not a freak. She admired him a lot, his calm yet passionate demeanor. He seemed so innocent. He was the first to change people’s hearts. Without him, neither Allan nor Tom would have had such a powerful experience that totally transformed them, and thus led to the events that would soon begin.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Lan’s voice, calling her name. She turned and saw him approaching quickly, through the dense canopy of tree branches.
“Glad I’m not the only one late for our meeting,” Lan said. “How are you feeling?”
“Scared. And excited,” Jules admitted. “Do you think we’ll succeed?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. I’d be hiding in the deepest hole I could find.”
“You’re scared too, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. But then, I lived in fear for my life ever since I met Allan and he told me about Thomas’ plan to have me killed soon. You have no idea what it means to not feel safe, not even in your house.”
“Actually, I do have an idea.” Jules decided to open her heart in front of her friend, because she might not have a chance to do it in the future. “My stepfather made me feel that way. For four years I had to put up with his advances and had to stay away from him when my mother wasn’t at home. He made me feel guilty and dirty and scared beyond belief. I never knew whether he was going to come to my bedroom or not. I kept my door blocked by a chair, just in case, so that the noise would wake me and my mother up.”
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