Clone Two

by Patti Larsen

  ***

  Chapter Twenty Six

  She is dressed oddly, the girl who greets me, though it only takes me a moment to realize the hand she extends toward me isn't sheathed in some kind of glove, but is, in fact, made of metal, a thin line of green pulsing its way through cracks and crevasses in the cybernetic skin. Her eyes, the palest green I’ve ever seen, are quiet and full of welcome.

  But when she smiles at me, the touch of her gentle and kind, I know there is nothing for me to fear. As if to confirm my understanding, the dog settles on his haunches and barks at her, a soft yip of welcome before his tongue lolls out of his mouth.

  “Please,” she says with a smile, “come with me.” She turns without waiting to see if I'll follow, unconcerned and moving at a slow but steady pace. I stare at the back of her head where more of her flowing brown hair should be, at the panel of metal cupping her scalp. One glance to the side and I catch sight of the first boy who greeted me, and understand why only one of his eyes was visible.

  The other is covered in a strip of steel.

  We emerge from a narrow tunnel, almost like covered scaffolding, into a street. It's clean, the cleanest I've seen, a few lights still working, shining through building windows. But the way is far from empty. A small crowd, growing all the time, gathers to watch us pass, each and every one touched in some way with metal, some with horrible scars, others flawless but for their enhancements.

  It's a quiet walk with the dog padding along beside me, the sound of his steady panting keeping me relaxed. The crowd parts as we walk through them, smiles and waves from these odd people making me feel even more comfortable, and I find myself smiling and waving back.

  They fall behind, seeming content to just watch us go, not trying to follow. I turn back to my guide who glances over her shoulder with a smile, but doesn't pause.

  “I'm Trio.” It feels odd to speak in the quiet, but equally so to remain silent.

  “And I am Ever,” she says, a smile touching her small bow mouth. “Welcome, Clone Three. Trio.”

  “You're the leader here?” It seems an obvious question, and obvious answer, but Ever shakes her head.

  “No, nothing like that,” she says. “I merely offer guidance to the others. We're all equal here.”

  Leader then.

  “Your people...” I glance back again, but we've rounded a corner of the street and the others are no longer in view, though I catch glimpses of the odd face in windows above us.

  “We’re affected differently than most by the Sick.” Ever offers her hand again, the metal one. It's as warm as mine, the green lines pumping liquid through it. “Our blood changed somehow, so we require metal on our bodies to survive.”

  I release my hold on her hand. “Are there no others here?”

  “There are,” she says, “outside our walls. Then we're not the only ones to live with Brights, Shambles, Howls? The records which remain say our city suffered the same as the rest of the world.” Her eyes sparkle. “I'm assuming that's not changed?”

  I nod. “It's not.”

  We're approaching some kind of factory-like building, the squat and ugly structure seeming out of place surrounded by higher buildings. Ever guides me inside, gesturing for me to precede her through the heavy metal door.

  It's light inside, hanging bulbs casting lots of glow. She steers me to the right, up a set of metal stairs while I look down over the floor of the factory. Her people work on various machines, the green glow of the liquid standing out in pinpoints of light.

  “In here.” She pulls a door open, again waits for me to go ahead of her. The dog leaves me behind when I hesitate and I pause no more.

  He leaves me, tail wagging, trotting deep into the second floor room. It's quieter up here, not as much activity, but the steady bang-bang-bang of someone pounding metal draws me on.

  “Please,” Ever whispers, “be patient with her. She's been through so much.”

  I glance at her, but don't speak.

  “And if you're to take her away with you,” Ever finishes, coming to a halt with her cybernetic hand on my arm, “promise me you'll help her find her task and fulfill it.”

  My heart clenches in joy, in hope and love and so many other emotions I can barely contain it, breathing out through my mouth to control the shriek of excitement rising inside me. I already know who I've come to see, but the dog's happy barking tells me I'm right. I leave Ever behind, move deeper into the piles of machinery to where the golden lab turns in happy circles at the feet of a strange girl.

  But not strange, not to me. Or him, oddly. I know her from the way she stands, how her metal hand holds the hammer, despite the scarring on her arm. Everything about her is familiar even through the unfamiliar coating of metal and I love her, oh I love her so very much.

  “Clone Two,” I say, voice vibrating with happiness, knowing it is she. She turns, looks up at me.

  One brown eye, one green, half of her face a metal mask, but enough of her left she still looks like me.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  “Which one?” Her voice is my voice, but harsher, deeper, more full of old hurt. “Which are you?”

  “Clone Three,” I say.

  Her flat expression changes at once, a huge smile pulling against the metallic side which responds just a moment more slowly to change. Before I can act or speak again she is beside me, arms wrapping around me, hugging me so hard the steel parts of her dig into my skin, my bones creaking from the power of her happiness.

  I couldn't care less if her joyful hug breaks bones. I've found her at last.

  “Duet.” Ever's gentle word is a chastisement.

  Clone Two backs suddenly away, though she continues to smile. “Duet,” she says, “that's me.”

  The dog barks, drawing her attention. She crouches, hugging him too, though I see her do so with more care. “Dog,” she says and laughs, ending with a snort. “You're a dog.”

  He licks her face, the human side, before barking again and looking at me.

  He knows her. How? Until I understand. He knows her because he knows me.

  Duet straightens, tossing the hammer to the long bench where she's been working. “Clone Three.” She says my name in singsong. “You're here for me, you really are, Three.” Sudden fear lights her human eye. “Aren't you?”

  I nod, my beaming smile fading as I watch her, listen. “I am,” I say. “I've been looking everywhere for you.” Yes, I'd been told to find her and Clone One, but the idea of actually stumbling on her like this... but no. Not stumbling. She's been pulling me toward her all along.

  “Did you know I was coming?” I reach for her and she grasps my hand, presses it to the cyborg skin of her face, humming softly as she clutches me to her.

  “I knew,” she whispers. “Knew it, knew it, did. But wasn't sure which one of you would get me first.”

  “Clone One.” I take a step closer to her. “Duet, Clone One?”

  She drops my hand, shakes her head, suddenly angry. “No,” she snaps. “Clone Three!”

  It's clear she's not all right, has been broken beyond the physical damage. Despair for her takes my happiness away. “Trio,” I say. “I'm Trio.” I turn to Ever as Duet hugs herself and rocks in place, humming again, head cocked to one side with her human lips turned up, the metal unresponsive.

  “She speaks of you always.” Ever smiles at Duet. “We found her, not far from here. She was very badly damaged, calling for Clone Three. We couldn't save her unless we made her a Tek. Like us. But her mind...” Ever sighs softly and pats Duet's cheek. My sister clone stops her droning immediately and laughs. “There was so much damage I'm afraid she'll never be the same.”

  “The same.” Duet nods quickly, looking at me. “We're the same.”

  Damaged or not, broken or not, she's the one I've been looking for and I refuse to allow my newfound joy die so easily. “We are.” I take her hand, my heart hurting for her and for me, but loving her anyway. “We are, Du
et.”

  She laughs, does a little dance on the spot before falling serious. She leans close to me, whispers over my mouth. “Take me with you.”

  “Yes,” I whisper back. “The task.”

  “The task.” Duet's face compresses, even the slow moving metal answering her this time. “Do you know?” Her voice is a little girl's voice. “What we have to do?”

  I sigh. Disappointment is a hard blow. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

  A huge tear gathers in her good eye, spilling over before she laughs again, maniacal, a hitch in it when she stops. “Clone Three,” she says.

  “Trio,” I say.

  “Trio.” She kisses me suddenly on the cheek. “Trio.”

  Ever gestures for me to follow. I take Duet's hand, guide her to a pair of handmade metal stools. The dog lays at our feet, sighing deeply, tail thumping on the floor twice before he closes his eyes.

  “Duet,” Ever says softly, “tell Trio what you remember.”

  Duet's green eye flashes. “No.” She crosses her arms over her chest, spinning on her stool, facing away from me.

  “Duet.” Ever's voice remains soft, but I can tell she's had a great deal of experience in cajoling my damaged clone. “You must. The task.”

  Duet turns back, lower lip stuck out oddly as the metal oozes out to match her human skin. “It hurts.” She clutches at her head with her hands, one cyborg, one flesh before pounding at her metal side with some strength. My hope plummets as I watch her, gone farther than I first thought and unable to help me.

  Now what? And how am I to care for her in this condition? Perhaps it will be better to leave her in the hands of the Teks who saved her.

  But Duet's eyes rise and meet mine before I can fall too far into my discouragement and worry.

  “The task,” Duet says, voice and gaze clear and present. “You know about Lady Liberty?”

  I have to think a moment before my memory of the past and Socrates comes together.

  “The statue?” The lure, the green tinted woman with the torch, the book and the crown of spikes who pulls me on as much as my connection to Duet.

  “Yes.” She grasps my hand again. “The statue.”

  “New York City.” Does she remember after all?

  Duet bobs a nod, throat working as if she struggles for words. “Clone One.”

  “She's there?” How does Duet know? Or was Clone One meant to be there all along?

  What is our task?

  Duet lets out a soft howl that raises the dog's head. His ears flicker, eyes sad, tail thumping slowly in sympathy.

  “Duet,” I say, “the man, you remember him?”

  She nods. “The scientist,” she says. “Dr. Gorman.” Her eye rolls and she suddenly grins. “Antoine.” When she laughs peals of hilarity, I can only guess why she finds him funny when I have the impression I've failed him even before I was sent here.

  That I feared him then and still would were he here, no matter what abilities I possess.

  “And the woman?” Our mother. I believe it. And when Duet meets my gaze again, she's smiling a gentle smile, leaning forward to run her human fingers over my face.

  “He hates it when we call her Mother,” she says.

  Tears well in my eyes. “She gave us a task, Duet,” I say. “What was it?”

  Duet sighs and sags, turning away from me again. “I don't know,” she says. “But I'm glad you found me.”

  Ever pats her shoulder, eyes on me. “That's all of it, I'm afraid,” she says. “I'm sorry, I wish there was more.” She smiles then, leans in toward Duet who hides her face in her hands. “Your sister is here,” Ever says. “Aren't you happy?”

  Duet's mood swings immediately and she's once again holding my hand, gazing at me with what feels like adoration.

  “My sister,” she says. “Trio.”

  There's not much left to do then but return to the train.

  “We're happy to allow you through,” Ever says as we walk back toward the gate, Duet and the dog right behind us. I hear her talking to him, nonsense, but he barks back and I wonder if they understand each other after all. Perhaps my damaged sister can teach me to speak to him in his language.

  Ever motions to her people at the controls near the doorway as we approach.

  “Open the gate,” she calls. “They may pass.”

  Metal grinds on metal immediately, the huge sheets of steel groaning as they swing slowly inward.

  “Hydraulics,” Ever says. “Using our own blood for fuel.”

  “Blood?” I look at her, at her hand, remember what she said. The green glowing fluid...

  “Yes,” Ever smiles. “We've been forced to trade our flesh. But in return, we've become power sources.”

  Power. I'm endlessly appalled by the Sick and its effects, though Ever seems to think of her change as a gift. I can only shrug inwardly and trust she knows better than I. “I have a friend who will love to meet you,” I say, grinning back, thinking of Socrates. “Make that two.” Ande will be ecstatic.

  “And we're delighted to meet them,” Ever says as the gates swing back, revealing the train. “Perhaps you'd like to welcome them inside before something more unfavorable happens during our exposure.”

  Leaving her behind with a gentle word to Duet to stay, the dog jumping and bounding in delight at my side, I head for the train while trying to figure out how to explain my sister.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Beckett is down from the coal car and jogging toward me before I'm halfway out the gate. He catches me mid-way, hands rising, but he doesn't hug me, just grasps my upper arms and squeezes.

  “You're okay.” His words are clipped, almost strangled in the back of his throat.

  “I am,” I say. “Trust the dog, remember?”

  He glances down at the grinning lab. “What happened? Why did they let you in?”

  “It's a long story,” I say, “but part of it is I've found one of my clones.”

  Beckett stares at me like I've told him the world really is flat and we could fall off at any moment. “Clones?”

  I pull free of him, but gently and head toward the train with him walking next to me. “Are you forgetting my name that fast?” I manage a smile as his eyes widen.

  “Clone Three,” he says. “I forgot.” Like it's not only been days instead of forever since we met.

  It certainly feels the other way around.

  Poppy leans over the side, arms outstretched and I grasp for her, letting her fall in my arms.

  “I was worried,” she whispers.

  “I have a surprise that will make it worth it,” I whisper back.

  “Well?” Chime's harsh voice cuts through. “You expect me to just drive my train in there?”

  I meet Ande's eyes, ignoring her entirely. “You're going to want to meet these people,” I tell him with a wink. “Right up your alley.”

  “Good enough for me.” He disappears into the cab, the engine answering him right away. I stay on the ground, Poppy at my side, holding my hand, Beckett on the other with the dog preceding us as we walk beside the slowly rolling train through the gaping gates and into the Tek city.

  Chime glares at me over the rail, I can see her out of the corner of my eye. But I continue my plan to not acknowledge her and she finally looks away.

  Small victories.

  The gate swings shut behind the last car as the train hisses and glides to a stop again. The street is oddly empty and I look around, seeing only Ever and Duet near the small door serving as the normal entrance.

  “It's all right,” I say, only then realizing both sides are nervous. “They won't hurt you.” I'm speaking to the Teks and the crew as they shuffle and stare.

  Ever steps down to the track and nods to Beckett and Poppy, shyly holding her metal hand behind her back.

  “This is Ever.” Poppy grins at her, waves. Ever unconsciously waves back, using her cybernetic hand. Poppy's eyes fly wide, but she continues to grin.
<
br />   “Cool!” She rushes forward, touches Ever's hand before turning to Beckett. “Can I have one?”

  Ever's laugh makes my heart happy.

  It takes the others a few minutes to descend, as nervous of the Teks as they are of us. But once Socrates and Ande spot Ever and, behind her, still hanging back, Duet, they bound down and start asking a million questions.

  Ever laughs again, holding up both hands as her people begin to drift out of doorways and alleys to join us. “You will have all the information you crave,” she says. “I promise you. But for now, be welcome.”

  Chime grunts. “Like we can trust a bunch of freaks,” she snaps.

  It's the most satisfying thing I've witnessed in my life, how her crew ignores her and moves forward to greet our new friends, even Brick abandoning her with an eye roll telling me he's wearying of her already.

  He's not the only one.

  “Come,” Ever says, “allow us to offer our hospitality while your questions are answered.”

  Ande and Socrates go with her immediately and, as though that's good enough for the others, so do the rest of the crew. I hold back, wait for Chime and Brick to pass before turning and motioning to Duet. She eases forward a step at a time, head down, but clearly curious.

  Poppy spots her and squeals, bringing Duet to a halt. The little girl grasps my hand with a huge smile on her face.

  “Oh Trio,” she says, “you found her!”

  Duet smiles, a beautiful expression on both sides of her face, before falling to her knees before Poppy. “You,” she whispers. “I know you.”

  I find myself frowning, looking back and forth between them, but Poppy just laughs and hugs Duet.

  “What's your name?” She leans back again and offers her little hand. “I'm Poppy.”

  “Clone Two,” my sister says. “I'm Clone Two.”

  “Duet,” I murmur. Poppy giggles.

  “That's what I was going to name you,” she says, nose wrinkling. “I like these folks already if they can do that much right.”