The Way of All Flesh: Illusions Can Be Real

by Corey Furman

  “How can that be?” she said as she moved her head to smell the hair close to her ear. “Is it psychological?”

  “I don’t think so. Since we eat the same things it can’t be diet. The best we can figure is that experience plays a role.”

  After a few moments of shared closeness, she continued. “We have a lot more to talk about, but it will have to keep until later. In the meantime, can you try to do me a favor?”

  “Yes, Luna,” she replied as her nose brushed her ear.

  “I know nothing makes sense yet, and today will be more unbalancing events. Do you think you could try to remember my scent when you’re scared?”

  “You’re the only friend I’ve ever had. I’ll never forget the smell of you.”

  “Good. I get scared too – I’m scared now – but I will be doing the same thing, remembering the smell of my Chroma.”

  There were more unpleasant chimes, and LabSys said, “you now have sixty minutes to report for duty.”

  Luna reached up and turned on a tiny light and opened the lid of their clamshell bed, returning them to standard gravity. Just like that, reality barged its way in and the moment was broken.

  “Now what?” Maré said as they climbed out.

  “What now is you and I see if we can squeeze into that shower. We’ll have to make some of my clothes work for you. Fortunately, you’re physically only a little smaller than I am.”

  “Luna, that’s not really what I meant.”

  She paused. “I know, Maré,” and she sighed. “Once we get ready and eat what’s left of our tiny breakfast, we will meet the others, at least for a few minutes.”

  As they climbed into the shower together, Maré asked, “what are they like?”

  “Uhhh… well, you’ll find that there’s a surprising amount of variety for a group of genetically identical simulants.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Well, I don’t want to color your judgment. You’ll have to trust me and judge them on your own. We can talk through it in bed later tonight. There, your hair is done. Do mine, please.”

  When they were done getting around, Luna led Maré out into the common area. Two women were already seated with their backs toward Maré. She couldn’t tell much from this angle, but she could see that they both had oddly bare heads, and they were wearing identical pale grey jumpsuits with a single pin stripe down the outside seam. Luna brought her around to meet them.

  “216 Alpha, Bravo, this is 370 Bravo. Dr. Almeida had me bring her out of sleep during the night. 370 Bravo, these are the twins.”

  They looked at each other, then turned back. 216 Alpha said, “370 Bravo, it was expected that you would be brought to consciousness reasonably soon, but your presence here is a surprise to us.”

  “Very. The normal protocol would have been to repurpose you,” said Bravo.

  “You must be well, and that makes us glad,” said Alpha.

  “If we may be of assistance, you must tell us,” said Bravo.

  Maré didn’t have a whole lot of experience upon which to draw, but the twins weren’t what she had expected. At least they seemed friendly, if somewhat awkward. Still, Maré wasn’t sure what to say. “Thanks… you can call me Maré.”

  The twins cocked their head in the same direction, but she doubted they were aware of having done it. They then looked at each other, and Alpha nodded to her match.

  Bravo said, “Please take no offense, but that would be most inappropriate. Though I have never used it, my officially designated forename is also Maré.”

  Luna said, “Allow me to explain: it was discovered when 370 Bravo was brought out of maturation that her memories had not been successfully implanted. She has only the very little context I have been able to impart in brief conversations.”

  “This explains your confusion, 370 Bravo, but now I am more curious as to why you were not repurposed,” said Alpha.

  Maré took a good look at them, and Alpha in particular. She had no hair, and though her smile and the angle she held her head seemed quite different, the soft curves of her face and her liquid brown eyes were definitely identical to Luna’s. It was a little disquieting, strange. It occurred to her that Bravo was just as similar to herself, and yet not the same. This is perfectly normal to them, she thought. I’m the one that’s strange…

  “I am responsible,” said Luna. “Dr. Almeida was about to repurpose her, but I begged him to allow her to stay. He agreed, with the stipulation that the cost would be mine to bear.”

  “This will present problems. Have you paired?” said Bravo.

  Maré looked to Luna, who answered. “Yes.”

  “Wonderful. May your happiness be completed in each other,” said Alpha.

  “370 Bravo, We believe you are in good company. We have found 183 Alpha to be both competent in the performance of her assigned tasks and compassionate towards our sleeping sisters,” said Bravo.

  “She is our friend, and we would be pleased to have your friendship as well,” said Alpha.

  Maré said, “thank you, both. I’m sure I’ll need all of the friends I can get.”

  “Twins, there is a way in which you could help. If you could spare some food, it would be greatly appreciated,” said Luna.

  The twins looked at each other again. It seemed to Maré that something must pass between them when they look into each other’s eyes. When they turned back, Bravo said, “we will have to work out a rotation.”

  “It will be easier to bear if we work together,” said Alpha.

  “And the training, as well,” said Bravo.

  Maré was touched at the kindness of these people. Simulants, she corrected herself. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you very much.”

  Then the last bedroom door opened, and out came 85 Alpha. She was still buttoning up her lab coat when she noticed that there was a new addition to their group, stopping her dead in her tracks. “What’s this?” she said.

  “This is 370 Bravo,” Said Luna. “Dr. Almeida ordered her brought out of maturation.”

  Bravo said, “370 Bravo has no memories, because they’d not yet been successfully implanted.”

  “I see,” said 85 Alpha.

  The moment seemed strained and tense, but then it mostly passed. 85 Alpha came over to Maré and extended her hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  Maré took her hand lightly and said, “So am I. Pleased to meet you, that is.” She couldn’t identify what it was, but something about 85’s inflection was strange. Something about this woman is… off, thought Maré.

  Their hands parted.

  “You must be very out of sorts. Have… living arrangements been made? I could —”

  Luna took a step so that she was not directly between them, but close to it. “Everything has been taken care of, as far as that goes. She is staying with me.” The temperature of the room went up a few degrees as she spoke.

  85 stammered with annoyance. “B-b-butt… it’s so sudden…”

  The Twins stood up. “85 Alpha, you have friends,” said Bravo.

  “You must find your center there,” said Alpha.

  She seemed to pull herself together. “Yes, well… very fine. Maybe we can catch up later, but for now, I must get to my duties.” She rushed out with her lab coat still half buttoned.

  Back in their room, Maré could tell that Luna was a little unnerved. “What was all of that?”

  “That,” said Luna, “was 85 Alpha. I expected a reaction from her, but not like that.”

  “I don’t know what to make of her. Do we worry?”

  “A certain amount of caution is wise, but I don’t think she’ll do anything to harm you, no.” After a moment, she said, “But she is right about duty calling. I have to go, Maré.”

  “What, just like that?”

  “Yep, and you must stay here.”

  Once again, life seemed to be outracing Maré. “When will you be back? What do I do w
hile you pop off to work?”

  “Listen, don’t worry. I’ll check in at lunchtime. In the meantime, you might as well start preparing for your new career. LabSys?”

  Tones. “Ready, 183 Alpha.”

  “Please help 370 Bravo navigate to the training materials for maturation pod procedures.”

  “Acknowledged, 183 Alpha.”

  “The most practical thing you need to know is that LabSys is always present and monitoring. If you need me, you can contact me through comms over it, and you can always ask it questions. Otherwise, I need to go.” As she moved towards the door, it swished open.

  “Luna?”

  She paused in the doorway and looked back.

  “I’ll miss you.”

  Luna came back and put her arms around her. “Maré, I would rather be with you than out there.” She broke the embrace, and ran out the door leaving her alone.

  The dreary day slowly passed with her watching some introductory lessons on simulant biological maintenance, punctuated only by a too brief visit from Luna at lunchtime. At dinner, Luna got the food and brought it back to the room. As they sat at the desk, Maré on the chair and Luna on a box, they opened the hot packages. Maré said, “So… tell me about your day.”

  “Ha! There’s not a lot to tell. You look tired; did everything go okay?”

  She paused with food half way to her mouth. “I guess I am tired – probably a combination of that booster you gave me wearing off and less than exciting training materials. And I’m serious about wanting to know about what you were doing. I only get to live through you for the next week.”

  Luna snorted again. “Don’t forget the lung treatments… We have that to look forward to yet tonight.”

  Maré frowned. “Is it really necessary? I feel fine.”

  “You might be, dear, but we have to be sober about this thing. Dr. Almeida will get rid of you if he thinks you aren’t in perfect condition.”

  “Almeida’s really got it in for me, huh?” she said playfully.

  Luna lightly smacked the top of the desk with her palm. “Dr. Almeida, Maré.” She shifted her eyes around toward the ceiling, then she whispered, “It must have been a long day – it has made you needlessly… talkative.”

  Maré was a little hurt at the slight rebuke, but she understood – everything they said and did was watched. “You’re right, Luna. I’m not adjusted and I forgot. I think I’ll try to take it easy.”

  “Good. As for my day, I drew sixteen samples of amniotic gel from several of the maturation pods and ran them through LabSys’ analyzer. Three of them required me to add hormones to the related pods.”

  “What were the hormones for?”

  “Different things related to development. We’ll show you everything you’ll need to know once you’re allowed to be around the maturation pods, but basically sometimes a set of twins will have lungs developing a little slower than they should, or a nervous system a little too fast, things like that. I also checked the pods around the one used to develop you, looking for signs of infection.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Luckily, no. It shouldn’t have been able to happen in the first place, and as far as I know, none of the test results have been able to show anything conclusive. Anyway, we normally spend a lot of time taking samples, running tests and keeping an eye on things.”

  Maré poured half the contents of their drink into yesterday’s container and got up. “Do you want water in yours?”

  “Yeah, but only fill it three quarters, please.”

  She padded over to the sink, and as the water ran, she spoke. “Doesn’t it feel weird to you, taking care of the sisters?”

  Luna’s brow creased in thought. “I hadn’t thought about it. I dunno, maybe it is weird – but we take care of them as well as anyone might or could. If androids or machines did it, there would probably be more problems.”

  Maré brightened as she came back and sat down. “I’m proud of how diligent you are, Luna.”

  “Of course. They are chromanity. Next week you are going to be just as diligent as you ever were.”

  “A good design, right?”

  She nodded. “I remember how you were, Maré. I was a better kid because of you.”

  Maré shrugged and took it in without a word.

  “Here’s something. When the originals were born, Maré came out first. It was only a few short seconds, but you were the older.”

  “And now you are the older, sort of,” said Maré.

  “Sort of. And you know what else? We still bring Maré out first – at least the ones that wake up here, anyway.”

  As they were finishing up, Luna started to collect the wrappers. Maré said, “Leave that go a minute – I’ll clean it up. Come look at this with me, please.” And she went over to the bed and sat down.

  Luna came over, and Maré turned to an old, faded holo that was fixed to the wall with yellowed tape. It was almost 3D, but it was so old that the illusory effect had faded somewhat. “What is this?”

  “That’s Mom and Dad, Maré, and us in front of them. I am on the left, and you are on the right.” Luna reached out and gently smoothed one of the slightly curled edges at the bottom of the image. The whole edge was smudged, as if she had tried to flatten that edge many times.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. I don’t know for sure, but we must have been about ten or so.”

  “How long has this been here?”

  “I’m not sure. A long time ago, a previous occupant of this room hung it there.”

  Maré shivered a little. A previous occupant. Will someone think of us that way someday?

  “It’s okay, Maré.”

  She looked up at Luna. She threw her arms around her Chroma, and cried into her neck.

  “Hey, it’s okay, honey. Shhh…”

  After she quieted down, Luna said, “What did you think of the twins?”

  Maré broke the contact. “They’re odd, I guess, but I think I like them.”

  “They are a bit odd, but it’s because of their relationship. They were brought out of the same maturation pod, specifically to work here. They were grown together, and they’ve been together ever since. Their rapport is impenetrable.”

  “They do seem really synced up.”

  “Meshed is a better word. I think it has a lot to do with this environment, like it distilled them or something. 85 once told me that they have… relations, as well.”

  Maré appeared puzzled.

  “Relations. Sex. You know what I mean, right?”

  “Uh, yeah, I get it. I guess I wouldn’t… expect that between sisters.”

  “With them it’s less like incest and more like masturbation. And we aren’t really sisters, we’re Chroma, grown on demand.”

  “It feels a little weird.” She paused and said, “Is this something that will be between us?”

  Luna sat up stiffly. “It’s not weird. I hope we’ll be deeply close, Maré. I loved you before I pulled you out of that crappy gel, and I love you specifically now. But I don’t think we can go there.”

  Maré sensed the thick wall around Luna’s emotions. She had just run into it. “Tell me,” she said.

  “Not yet,” she said with stormy eyes. “Let’s go get the lung treatment over with,” and she pulled Maré to her feet.

  When they came back later, Luna got Maré a glass of water for her raspy throat.

  “Thanks.” After a couple of sips she said, “How did 85 know about what the twins have been doing?”

  “They probably talked about it. 85 has been here a long time, longer than the twins.”

  “How long?” asked Maré.

  “About eight years. The twins have been here about five.”

  “And you?”

  “I’ve been here for a year.”

  “What was it like for you? I mean, living without your Bravo.”

  “Well… it was hard… and I was
pretty lonely.” Pause. “I mean, I had my memories, so it felt like my sister had died. I knew she wasn’t the real one, and that I wasn’t either, but the memories drove my emotions a lot more than my ability to think did.”

  Maré could tell that Luna didn’t visit these feelings very often. Choosing her words, she spoke softly. “This is hard for me, and I have you. How did you get through it?”

  “We’re going to have to turn the lights out for that one.”

  They got undressed in silence, climbed into bed together and pulled the lid down into place. The darkness was deep, but it was intimate and comforting, like being in the womb.

  Maré sensed her Chroma’s trouble, so she pulled Luna to her. She wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. Luna would talk when she was ready.

  “85 brought me out.” She was trembling slightly.

  “You don’t have to, Luna. Forget it.”

  After a few seconds, Luna said, “No, I can’t forget it, and you need to know what happened.”

  Maré waited.

  “They’d known there was a problem with my Bravo from her brain chemistry, and 85 was there to do the initial assessment when the androids brought us out.” She took a couple deep breaths. “To make a long story short, she convinced me to try to pair with her.”

  Maré could feel the drops on her chest, and she knew that Luna must be crying.

  “She’d already been here. She’d been paired for her first two years here, but her Maré died. She’d been alone from that time until I came along.”

  Maré stroked her hair. “I was going crazy alone by myself for only part of a day,” she said. “She must have felt… forsaken.”

  “Yes. The vacuum in her was vast. It still is.”

  Maré kept stroking her head while she waited for her to continue. It was becoming painful, wanting to soothe her and not knowing how. A need to fix things, to protect Luna, was emerging… She wasn’t sure why she should feel challenged this way, but she quietly accepted the responsibility without looking back.

  “She bullied me into it, Maré.” She shook with silent sobs. “She… forced herself on me.”

  Understanding dawned. Maré was heartbroken for her Chroma, and she held her as tight as she could while they both cried in the dark womb of their bed.