“I don’t know exactly. Still trying to figure it out…“ Allan debated how much he should tell a new acquaintance, then made up his mind. “One instant I was walking home, tired and satisfied after winning a new game at the Imaginarium, and the next thing I know I’m staring at a clone who was ready to take my whole life from me. I still can’t figure out what happened.”
“Were you in an accident?”
“Not really. It was an attack. Someone knocked me down from behind. They kicked me pretty badly. Luckily, I heal fast. An ambulance took me to the hospital and Jules told you what happened there. She took me to the incinerator, except I wasn’t dead. She saved my life.” Allan paused for a moment, suddenly lost in thought. “Why do you think I’m here? Why switch us, the clone and me? My father was on his way to see me. Why didn’t they wait for him to see me before putting me down? Obviously I wasn’t critically injured.”
“Indeed, why?” Daniel looked intently at Allan, his green eyes partially closed, eyelids heavy with long lashes that made him look sleepy. “What generation was your clone?”
“C5, I think. Why?”
“Just curious. At the very least you can rest assured he’s going to be very much like you. A lot of the psychological and emotional issues were debugged in the C5s. Their synapses connect much faster and with greater accuracy. He’ll be You in no time.”
“Were you a geneticist?”
“Ph.D. in stem cell transplant, but I worked a lot with cloned material, used it for organ replacement and such. I worked at the cloning lab, too, for a while. Might have seen You there,” he winked. “What’s your specialty?”
“My father is the head of Secure-IT. I was lined up to take his place one day and so all my education and training are in security systems and technology, hardware, a bit of software.” He paused. “And combat,” Allan added finally.
“That didn’t help you much in a street fight,” Daniel teased him.
“You’re right, but I didn’t see it coming. I’m not trying to make excuses or anything, but I was listening to music, watching some game and walking in a safe zone. I was tired too, the Imaginarium thing, you know.”
“The lesson is to watch your back. Be on constant alert from now on, even here with the Scrappies. There is no safe haven for you, my friend; for none of us.”
“Speaking of which, Mel was telling Jules about a Tom who said no strangers in the house. Who is he?”
“Tom is our host. He took Jules in to live here with him. Mel came next, brought in by Jules. I was the last one Jules found. Tom agreed to let us all stay here. The other Scrappies respect him or are afraid of him, not sure which, but they leave us alone. They don’t try to steal anything from us or take over the house.”
“Where is he now?” Allan asked.
“He comes and goes. We don’t know his whereabouts. Sometimes he goes back into town and brings us food or medicine, things that we need to survive. He’s like a father to us all. He even helps some of the other groups from other houses with critical needs; a child being sick, some hot heads fighting over something or another. He likes it peaceful around here, so he gets involved to keep some sort of order.”
“Is he a Scrappie?”
“Definitely. He’s in hiding from something but again, we don’t know the details. Some of us think he was an Elite or Professional by the way he talks and holds himself; a person used to being in charge.” Daniel continued appraising him. “You look a bit like him, you know?”
“Do you think I could talk to him and get some advice?”
“Sure thing. You just have to wait for him to come home. Sometimes he stays away for days.”
“What would you do, if you were me?”
“If I were you, I’d stay put for a while and see what happens.”
“What else could happen? Some clone stole my whole life away and lives as me. I think I have to confront him and clear things up with my father.”
“Well, apparently you already know the answer to your question. That’s a tough call, and it’s your decision.” Daniel got up and started towards the back door. “Let’s go outside and see if we can help.”
Allan followed, his frustration increasing. These people don’t know any more than I do what the best course of action is. I’m just wasting my time with them.
The back of the house was full of activity. Birds up in the trees called to one another. A baby goat jumped up and down near its mother, who was trying to reach some leaves just outside the fence. Jules began chasing after another goat, its udder swollen with milk, while Mel was feeding the chickens that were stepping on her sandals in a joyful flutter – breakfast at last!
“This is awesome!” Allan exclaimed, taking in the whole scene. After a short glance at Daniel, who was shaking his head with a smile on his face, he went to help Jules.
After helping with the animals, Allan felt very weak and light headed. “I think I need to rest for a bit. I suppose my body is still in recovery mode,” he told Jules.
“I thought you recovered extremely well,” Jules remarked. “Go upstairs and rest for a while. You’ll feel much better. Then we can talk about your strategy,” she ended with a grin.
“You really can’t help yourself, can you?” Allan replied, looking at her, then he addressed them all. “I’ll go inside for a nap. See you later, and thank you all for everything.”
6
Allan woke up to noise coming from downstairs. His stomach was rumbling with hunger, so he got up to join the others. His mind was made up: he was going home, where he belonged, not a freaky clone.
He looked outside through the window. The afternoon sun had turned the backyard into a deserted place. All the animals were hiding in the shade. Everybody was probably inside the house where the air conditioner, taking its energy from the sun itself, as he had found out, was maintaining a welcoming ambience.
Allan headed downstairs and found Jules, Mel, and Daniel in the living room, each of them engaged in a different activity; Daniel reading, Mel mending some clothes, Jules arranging flowers in a vase.
“Oh, you’re up. Feeling better?” Jules inquired.
“Much better, thanks,” Allan replied.
“When is David coming?” Jules addressed Daniel.
“Speaking of the devil?” a young man said, entering the house. He dropped the backpack he had been carrying to the floor. He was a shorter version of his brother Daniel, but livelier. His dirty blond hair was cut short and his green eyes sparkled with mischief, seemingly ready for a hot debate on any topic. “What’s up, dudes? I see I’m not the only visitor,” he continued, looking at Allan while lowering himself on the couch.
“Jules brought in a man she rescued at the hospital. His name is Allan.” Mel leaned over and whispered loudly, ”He’s an Elite.”
“Allan, this is David, Daniel’s brother,” Jules intervened.
“Good to meet you, man,” Allan said, and the two young men shook hands.
“What happened to you?” David asked, with apparent concern in his voice.
Allan repeated the story he had told Daniel. “So, now I need to straighten everything out. Do you guys have any advice for me?” he finished, looking at each of them in turn.
Nobody volunteered an answer, waiting for David to give them his opinion.
“It’s hard to say. I haven’t heard of anything like this happening before. Do you have any other relatives you can count on?”
“Nobody else, except my father. Mother died a long time ago, so did my grandparents, and I am an only child.”
“Do you trust your father?” David continued questioning Allan.
“With my life. I have no idea whatsoever why things turned out this way. There is no reasonable explanation.”
“Have you considered that your father might be the target, and you just a casualty?”
“Not really, but since you mention it, he has seemed preoccupied lately. A bit distant, but he hasn’t said anything to me, so I don’t kn
ow what it could be.”
“Then I would go and confront him about it. What do you guys think?” David looked at the others.
“He could wait for a few days, to see if something else happens,” Daniel reflected. “The problem right now is that he is too far removed to see anything. At times like this, one would like to be a fly on the wall, present but unnoticeable.”
Jules had kept her silence up to that point, but she seemed to have remembered something. “There was something in that nurse’s tone of voice, rushing me to take Allan away, saying it was because the father was coming to see his son. I don’t think Allan’s father was aware of the change and was rushing to see what he thought to be his original son, who had been in an accident. What if the guys at the hospital were doing the replacement without his father’s knowledge or consent?”
“Why would the hospital want to have me replaced?” Allan felt fear gripping his heart. “The more I think about what happened, the worse I feel. I have to talk to my father.”
“All right. The decision rests with you,” David seemed relieved to not make the decision for Allan. “What’s Tom saying about the whole story?”
“He hasn’t heard it. We don’t know where he is at the moment,” Mel replied.
“Don’t you want to wait and see what he has to say? He has sound judgment.” David asked.
“What could he tell me that I don’t already know? I’m in trouble and I have to face whatever is that wants me dead.”
“Let’s see, then, today is Friday,” he looked down at his watch. “It’s getting late and I have some errands to do in town. How about I take you home tomorrow morning? It’s less conspicuous during the day to walk in and out of the Elite compound, and besides, your face still looks a bit rugged. A few more hours of nano-healing would help with your bruises. Is your father usually home on Saturday morning?”
“Yes, he is,” Allan confirmed.
“Sounds like a plan, then?” David asked, looking at them all to see if they objected.
“Agreed,” Allan said. “That is, if they’ll have me.” He looked at the others, hoping they would let him stay with them a bit longer.
“I have no problem, under the condition you leave tomorrow. We’ll be in danger with you here if it turns out they discover you didn’t die at the hospital after all,” Jules said, expressing the fear they all apparently felt.
“But we’ll do our best to help you as much as we can,” Mel added softly.
“And, man, don’t be a fool. Despite what Jules said, if something goes wrong, just come back. We’ll be here,” Daniel finished.
“I’ll do that. So, what’s for dinner?” Allan asked, the noise in his stomach a clear indication of his most immediate concern.
“I forgot you slept through lunch,” Jules exclaimed. “Mel, we have a hungry man in the house!”
“Two hungry men, truth be told,” David added. “I have some rice in the backpack, if you want to add that to the stew I’m sniffing.”
Over dinner, they made some casual conversation. Allan was interested to find out more about the two brothers, especially about Daniel’s choice of giving up his future. “So you’re with the Professionals,” he started, looking at David.
“Always have been. I’m a computer science major. From time to time, I come to visit my brother. Mom and dad are still devastated because he ran away. They had great expectations from him. I keep hoping one day he’ll come back home with me.”
“Not going to happen,” Daniel’s tone was decisive. “Done too much, seen too many awful things out there in my profession. I’ve done my share of work for this “beautiful” world.” He seemed deeply wounded and all their eyes moved to him.
“What happened to you there?” Allan asked, curious.
“You don’t know what they were doing to the clones. We killed young babies just because they weren’t matching the design specs. We harvested them for their organs when their original was in surgery. I just wanted to work strictly in my field. But it was never enough for them.”
“For who?” Allan asked with interest.
“All those hot shots at the institute and the associated cloning lab, “Why don’t you try to expand your limits, Daniel? Why not use your exceptional qualities to achieve more? Why limit yourself to lab work, you and your microscope?” I tried again and again to tell them it was too much for me. I was having nightmares, dreaming of all those poor kids suddenly transformed into zombies, coming after me. Ultimately, I lost it and ran as far as I could,” he finished with an exhausted breath.
“It’s over now, Daniel,” Mel tried to comfort him, getting up from the coach and sitting beside him. “We all have our nightmares, but we have each other to watch our backs now. And Allan, will you stop prying? It’s not good for him to talk about it.”
“Hey,” intervened David. “Allan didn’t know he would bring up such memories. Take it easy, brother, there’s no hurry to do anything.”
Allan suddenly felt very sorry for Daniel. “Look man, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m truly sorry. I’ve had it easy my whole life, I can see that now. I can promise you one thing: if I don’t end up dead, I will do everything in my power to make a difference in people’s lives. Nobody should ever have to go through what you or I did.”
“Oh, Allan, you’re so full of it,” Jules replied in a bitter tone. “You’ll just end up enjoying your life once again and forgetting that this ever happened to you.”
“I’m really starting to wonder why you even bothered to save me, if you think so little of me!” Allan felt a rush of contradictory emotions engulfing his being. “I was simply oblivious to what was happening in the world. All the other young Elites are just like me, but I can assure you I will never be the same, knowing what I know now. Give me a chance to prove myself before you rush to conclusions.” He stormed outside, all the while feeling the inadequacy of his words, especially coming from somebody not even in control of his own destiny.
Mel followed him and looked at him with sympathy. Then she said: “Please don’t blame Jules. It’s so much better to say what you think than to keep it all bottled up. Don’t you see how good it is to see us, all from different classes, opening up in front of each other, on equal footing? At least here we can start anew, being totally ourselves with all our strengths and weaknesses. This is truly the beginning of genuine friendship. I wish you could see just how special she is. She doesn’t hate you, Allan, she hates the system. But she saved us all, even risked her life, as in your case. Let’s just enjoy an evening of friendship and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
7
Allan woke up with his face tickled by the early sun rays, dancing on and off his face to the rhythm of the tree branches swaying in the wind.
This is it. He felt a shudder in the pit of his stomach. He still couldn’t figure out the reasons for his ordeal, as hard as he tried to make sense of it all. He thought of his father and remembered wondering why he’d seemed more distant and preoccupied in the last few months. Does this have something to do with him rather than me? Maybe somebody is after him and somehow I got dragged into this, like David said.
Realizing that he was going in circles again, he decided to get up, thank his hosts, and leave for his rendezvous with David.
Jules offered to walk with him back to the city and he gladly accepted. Going through the forest was not the easiest thing to do, and besides, he wanted to see if he could convince her to stop being so angry with him.
“How long have you been with the Scrappies?” he asked.
“About three months. Do you remember the last snow in March? That night, Tom found me in the forest and took me to the house.”
“What were you doing in the forest?”
“Running away from home.”
“Why?” Allan asked before thinking.
“Didn’t like the rules,” Jules answered casually.
“The rules?” he felt very confused. “What rules?”
“Stop
prying. I just needed a change of air, all right?”
“I’m not prying. I just want to get to know you better. I’ve never met anyone like you.” He could feel her reluctance to talk about herself, but didn’t know how to make her confide in him.
“Lucky you. Less headaches and sarcasm that way.”
“Without you I’d be dead now.” Allan wished she’d make this a little easier on him. He changed the course of the conversation, since that seemed to be what was making her snappy. “Okay. Forget talking about yourself if you don’t want to. How many Scrappies are living in the compound?”
“I don’t know. A few hundred maybe.”
“Don’t they kill each other? Don’t they steal from each other? It seems like a dangerous place to live.”
“They do kill and steal, but those who kill get killed in return. Most of the Scrappies belong to one gang or another, forming something that resembles a family. That way they can live together and protect each other.”
“I’ve heard of Scrappies who were caught stealing or causing some mischief in the city. They’re taken to the Happy Endings clinic.”
“Those were isolated cases. Some are mentally ill and they join the Scrappies, only to go back and roam throughout the city after a while. Others need supplies to survive and they venture into the city to procure them. Those who are caught never return. But the vast majority are people who couldn’t live in the city any longer, like Mel or Daniel, or even me. We want one thing only, to be able to live a life of our choosing. We don’t want to cause any trouble. Yet I’m afraid that one day they’ll find out about my real status, all while working a job inside the system. I’d most certainly be taken to the clinic for that. I don’t even understand why they call it Happy Endings. There’s nothing happy about that.”
“My father told me once that it started with the funeral being replaced with the celebration of one’s life. In our society, people choose to end their life when they are too ill or simply tired of living, and thus the funeral home became a humane end to suffering, a place of happy ending.”
Elysian Fields Page 4
