Ray wrote, “Cloning illegal. Memories?”
“You’re sharp, aren’t you? Yes, cloning is still illegal on Earth, unfortunately. Sometimes I do wonder whether I have done the right thing but in the end when the breadth of everything I have accomplished is revealed. I believe people will see that the sacrifices I have made were worth it.
You no doubt know that cloning was my first area of expertise?”
Ray nodded.
“Well, I wanted to explore it as a method of circumventing infertility. I have a genetic disorder, you see, which means I cannot have children. A disorder which is very fixable but only at an early embryonic stage. I wanted to clone myself, fix the genetic anomaly and my clone would be the mother for both of us.
The regulators said no, and I spent those years working on the new breed of space pioneers, that you have spent your life living among, instead.” Astrid paused smiling prompting Ray to point to the word, “memories.”
“Ah yes, consciousness transfer. We discovered how to do that more than eighty years ago now and perfected it a couple of years before I was born. The clone embryo is transfected with a virus that modifies the way the brain grows. It grows essentially normally but every fiber and synapse that develops also grows a corresponding magnetic protein conduit alongside.
Just once during the life off the clone we can use magnetic resonance to reshape the brain. We take a high-resolution scan of the parent’s brain and rewrite the clone brain to match it. The protein conduits dissolve during the process and you are left with what looks very much like a normal brain. It only works if the brains are genetically very close to identical, so you can’t write my consciousness into somebody else's for example.
We also must be careful about making too many genetic modifications to the clone. That can have unforeseen consequences on brain structure and the consciousness transfer can be adversely affected. I was given the consciousness of my sixty-eight-year-old self. I had been dead for a long time, but I had my brain scanned, predicting that this technology would eventually become available. I left money and facilities behind to make sure I was revived when it did. And here I am. All the way out on Diana. Well twenty percent of me anyway. Amazing how life goes, isn’t it? So many things to do and now with the Life2 program…well…busier than ever.”
At the mention of Life2 Ray’s brain snapped into overdrive. Cautiously she typed into the communicator, trying not to give away her tension.
“Life2s come through here?”
Astrid smiled, “Yes they do. I guess you’ve been seeing the first of them huh? Beautiful aren’t they and they sure do pay the bills.”
“Shuttle port?” Ray wrote.
Astrid looked confused, “Yes we have a shuttle port. CDSE like to fly them over to their habitats when they are ready.”
Ray shook her head vigorously and typed again,” Where do they fly in from? Space ship?”
Astrid chuckled to herself, “I think you have the wrong idea entirely honey. They don’t travel here. They are born here.”
Ray almost heard the shards of her broken reality tinkling against the floor of her sterile cell. There were no ships. What the hell was going on here? Suddenly Ray didn’t care. She needed to get out and run. Something about Astrid was off. She said these things like she was talking about knitting. Ray needed to escape. To get the Net map and return to Atlas. Period.
Ray felt a hand against her head. Helplessly strapped to the cot she opened her eyes to look up at Astrid. She smiled kindly and stroked Ray’s hair.
“You are a beauty aren’t you,” she offered. “You poor dear. These last days must have been terrible. Maybe rest now and we can continue in an hour or two. I promise I will tell you everything you want to know. We are in this together you and I.”
Ray lay still with her eyes firmly closed. Refusing to acknowledge the touch of this strange woman. The guards returned and unstrapped her once Astrid had left. Ray didn’t fight or move or even acknowledge that they were in the room. Even once she was free and alone once more she lay still. Too tired to think or move. Astrid’s last words, “We are in this together you and I,” echoed in her thoughts.
Ray came to, slowly, sometime later. It felt like she had been asleep for hours, but she had no way to tell. Lying staring at the stippled ceiling she assessed her body first. Ribs sore but improving. Face also. She felt better.
She was somehow clearer in her mind and she wondered if the odd memories of the conversation with Astrid were affected by the tail end of the sedatives they had used to knock her out. She found that her determination was returning. She needed to be alert and ready. She was only likely to get one chance to escape. Suddenly, thoughts of her mother popped into Ray’s brain.
This place and Astrid were almost certainly involved in what had happened to Bones. If not directly responsible. Ray resolved to find out as much as she could while finding a way out. Failing any info on Bones, at the very least she could get a good handle on exactly what was happening on Diana.
The revelation about the Life2s being born on Diana was confusing to say the least and Ray was keen to learn the truth of it. When Astrid came back she would see if she could get around unshackled. Restrained to the bed she felt too vulnerable. She was sure that Pritchard would be skulking around somewhere, and she wanted to be able to run or fight if he tried anything again.
The guards arrived, with food and towels and soap for her to wash with, around an hour later. She complied with the protocol and sat quietly on the bed as they set up a small table in the corner and laid out the food. Neither of them spoke to her. Probably thinking there was little point as they couldn’t understand her responses anyway. Astrid arrived a short time later, poking her head around the door. Ray was sitting down to eat at the chair they provided.
“How are we all doing today?” Astrid asked brightly.
Ray smiled and nodded attempting to look satisfied and non-violent, swallowing a mouthful of a porridge-like substance. The nervous guard darted outside returning momentarily with the restraints. Astrid looked at Ray.
“I think we can dispense with those Erol,” she suggested looking pointedly at Ray,
“I’m sure our guest is smart enough to know that we have implanted a tracker and besides, if she kills me she already knows I have backups,” she spoke directly to Ray giving a little wink as if they shared a joke, “We only need you for a little while, then our life can carry on. How does that sound my dear?”
Ray smiled and nodded. She wondered if the itch in her back was an implanted tracker. She’d felt it with her fingers but if something was in there it was too small for her to feel or else Astrid was bluffing. Ray had dismissed it as a scratch from her scuffles until now but in either case she was too interested in what Astrid had to say next to run now.
Astrid produced a small tablet, a pen, and a small communicator with keyboard.
“I am sorry, but I have never had the chance to learn your language. What do you prefer; pen or keyboard?” Ray pointed to the keyboard which Astrid handed over.
“This will be easier with two hands,” she typed quickly.
“Indeed,” Astrid agreed. “I’m so glad you are being sensible about this. It will make the next day or so much more pleasant for both of us. Finish your breakfast. I’m in no hurry. I’ve cleared my schedule for you today.”
Astrid hummed to herself as she stripped and remade Ray’s bed while Ray ate. The door was left open again, but Ray could see the edge of the guard’s black uniform poking around the edge of the door frame. As Ray pushed back from the table Astrid finished fussing about the room.
“Ready?” she asked Ray. “I suspect you want to know about life2 first huh? My idea, I’m proud to say. Not why I wanted to come here, but a very good way to get CDSE interested enough in the project to fund it. Come and have a look at them all. I bought some slippers for your feet and a robe. We will need to go outside and it’s a cold night.”
Astrid let Ray dress and sto
od to the side, following Ray out the door. The guards fell into step some twenty paces behind. The corridor Ray currently lived in contained five doors, Ray’s and four identical to it.
Around the corner into a longer passage they passed what appeared to be a few small offices with windowed labs opposite, currently empty. Two other passages led off left and right further on, but Astrid led Ray straight ahead to a double door with a push bar. A familiar yellow sign designating it as an emergency exit.
Astrid pushed the bar and the door swung open revealing the blackness outside. As they stepped through, automatic lighting flicked on illuminating a medium sized concrete quadrangle marked with various lines. Down one end of the quad was a children’s jungle gym rising above a square of wooden bark chips.
“I’m sorry if your clocks out of kilter. It’s technically night here so they will be sleeping. Come and have a look.”
Astrid led Ray across the quad to one of four long barracks. Similar to the ones familiar to her from Atlas, but concrete instead of mud brick.
Astrid opened a door in the short end wall quietly and ushered Ray through, holding a finger to her lips. The dim light from the toilets at one end revealed rows of double bunks stretching the length of the barracks. Each bed contained a small to medium sized bundle under the covers. Hair of many colors rested on the pillows.
“They are clones, aren’t they?” Ray asked via her keyboard.
Astrid nodded looking pleased with herself. She quietly ushered Ray to a bunk-bed where a pair of identical brown-haired girls, apparently around eight years of age, were sleeping soundly. Astrid gazed at them fondly for a second before indicating to Ray that they should step outside.
Once clear of the sleeping children Astrid explained. “It’s genius if I do say so myself. When you buy into the Life2 program a number of cloned embryos of you are generated on Earth. We can’t send a whole person via HERB obviously, but we can send embryos. I worked on the project transporting embryos via G-Port and found ways to keep them viable. Not as easy as it sounds I can tell you.
The embryos are modified only slightly. Mostly to make them grow quicker and sometimes we can correct minor genetic disorders. We look after them for ten years or so, keep them healthy and fit, until they are mature enough and then we transfer the client’s consciousness to the one with the best-looking brain. No need to educate them because they get a whole life’s worth of knowledge and experience at transfer. We just need to make sure their visual and auditory brain is well developed and they are physically fit and healthy. That way the client gets to migrate to a new planet, but as a young, fit, healthy version of themselves.”
“You transfer when the client dies?” Ray inquired.
“Sometimes,” Astrid responded neutrally. “Sometimes they are long dead. Sometimes only recently. Sometimes they are very much alive and just like the idea that there is another version of themselves out there in the universe. For the clones, it feels just like waking up. One minute you’re in a machine getting your brain scanned, the next you’re sitting up on Diana. Amazing really. The clones know what they are of course, because the client understands the whole process when their brain is scanned. There is one couple, living in the Atlas habitats, who talk to their Earth side counterparts regularly. Tell each other about their days. Wonderful really. The Earthlings only look about ten years older than the clones in that case.”
Ray paused for a second, concurrently fascinated and horrified by the sheer narcissism of it. Her thoughts drifted back to the faces of the twin dark-haired girls resting innocently in their bunks.
“Why do you make two clones?” she wrote.
“For insurance. In case there is an accident while they grow. Most injuries are fine, but a bad brain injury makes consciousness transfer impossible. After consciousness transfer, the client has the option to keep the spare clone in case they mess up their first one. If they can afford it that is. If the client can’t afford it, then CDSE take the spare clones. Give them a job I suppose.
Some clients have extra embryos on ice to be grown once their current clone grows old and dies. In theory, the client could live forever so long as this facility survives, and the money doesn’t run out. We can just keep transferring their last brain scan into new clones. Turns out some people will pay a lot for that even though it’s a sort of a time loop.”
“Can’t they scan the clone’s brain? Start the next one where the last one finishes?” Ray queried.
“Funny you should ask that. Yes, we can, but there are unknown risks. It’s a copy of a copy and with every successive copy there is always going to be some degradation. The technology is still fairly new, so we don’t know how far we can push it before there is significant cognitive loss. I will be studying that question very soon. This week actually. Of course, I would love to be able to talk to my original self, before brain scan, find out if there are gaps in my memories or changes in my personality. Sometimes it feels like my memories are jumbled in time. Disordered. Talking to others though, memory jumbling seems to be common in non-clones too, so I don’t know really. I am very obsessive but so was the original me by all accounts. No way to know if I’m different. No one who knew me is still alive. We are going to have to try it and see won’t we.”
Astrid favored Ray with a smile, eyes roaming around Ray’s face, filling her with misgivings.
“Why am I here?” Ray wrote and held the tablet out in front, two handed.
“Ahhh, “Astrid replied, “That is the next question isn’t it. But to answer that, I need to tell you first why I came here. Then you will better understand, I think.”
Astrid looked at Ray quizzically, absentmindedly picking at her fingernails, making a decision. “I think there are some people that you should meet. They will be awake in a couple of hours. Shall we walk in the meantime? It’s a lovely night.”
Ray shrugged. She felt so far behind she really didn’t care what she did. Pfeffer had been right all along. There really was nowhere to run. “Why not,” she signed. Knowing that Astrid probably didn’t understand.
CHAPTER 26
As they walked Astrid talked intermittently. Ray had given up asking questions now and simply stared at the strange vegetation stretching into the dark left and right. The twisted vines clambered over one another, competing for the dim light filtering through from beyond the invisible G-Port nets suspended above.
Over this part of Diana, Ray guessed that the G-Port net counterparts were predominantly on recycling stations. Dead, black rocks in deep space so her view above was unimpeded by light from far away worlds. She could make out the brighter stars against the navy-blue sky, partially lit by Alpha Centauri B.
Without walls and doors, the guards hovered closer behind. No doubt in case Ray decided to run. Ray’s curiosity was winning out however. She wanted to hear the rest of the story. Astrid caught the direction of Ray’s gaze and commented,
“It’s amazing during the night. So many stars and so different from the night sky of Earth. Midnight is four days from now. You will still be here to see it I hope.”
Ray nodded listlessly.
“So, I was saying earlier, “Astrid continued. “Why am I here, on Diana? As far as Earth knows, I was a nameless CDSE volunteer for hypersleep testing. The mission objective was to see if a normal human, well almost normal human, could get all the way out here. Moves were already in place for the takeover of Diana, and CDSE were getting ready for that, so nobody asked too many questions. The real CDSE motivation was, as you know, to get this facility ready for the life2 program. CDSE’s long-term plan for making money out of Diana.
Only two of us came out here. My husband and me. We had lab supplies and materials to stock one of the smaller labs and the facility had already been largely constructed by drone habitat builders when we got here.
My own personal motivations were different though. They were twofold. I wanted unhindered time and facilities to fix the mistakes we made creating Dianians and I wanted to
solve my own infertility problem unfettered by the laws and antiquated moralities of Earth. I remember badly wanting a child during my first life but when I woke up in this life that want became an all-consuming need. Much more so for me than for my sister clones on Earth it appears. The vagaries of consciousness transfer I suspect. We are more different from one another than you might expect.”
Astrid paused for a while in her speech and they walked, footfalls loud in the otherwise silent forest.
Finally, Ray typed, “Husband?” and showed it to Astrid. A pained expression crossed Astrid’s face and she walked, staring along the path deep in thought.
“A wonderful man he used to be. Love of my life really. Well this one anyway.”
“Dead?” Ray inquired.
“No, he’s alive but badly damaged,” Astrid Answered, “You’ve met him actually. Desmond Pritchard. He brought you back. He works for Pfeffer now.”
Ray felt her anger spike. “Pritchard is your husband?” she typed rapidly, striking the keys hard.
Astrid nodded, ignoring Ray’s reaction to her husband’s name. “A sad story there. And one that involves you in a way. Don’t judge him too harshly. We will get to him later.”
Astrid stopped on the trail and turned to Ray. “Look,” she stated seriously. “Today’s going to be tough for you and for the people you are going to meet. I need some time to warn them before we carry on. I’m going to drop you back to your room for an hour OK? No more questions for now. All will be clear soon.”
Ray looked into Astrid’s green eyes and imagined she saw a deep well of pain there. Astrid reached out spontaneously and wiped away a piece of thin, spider silk leaf that had settled onto Ray’s cheek during their walk. Ray felt surprised that she didn’t balk or even flinch at the overly familiar gesture. Astrid smiled at Ray and a tear glistened silver in the corner of her eye,
“We are so glad you are here.”
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