Clone City

After speaking to Q’zar, Sovran went straight to Laia’s room. As she hurried along the Midround corridor, she felt this was the moment – the opportunity to blow the whole clone issue wide open. Thinking she had better warn Gorvik, she called him and explained what she was going to do.

‘Do it,’ he said simply but emphatically.

‘I just need the angle,’ Sovran said. ‘This woman may have it. I want to know about the clone she met. He crossed to the Outside several times. Gotta ring off,’ she said as the guard posted at Laia’s door came into view.

She produced her ID. It had already been cleared by Q’zar, but the guard checked it before pushing a button on the door.

Laia opened the door and looked up at Sovran. Surprised, she took a step back.

‘Sovran Dellovar. May I come in?’

Laia knew who she was. Sovran was a celebrity. ‘Yes, of course.’ Laia stepped aside, wondering what in the Codes she owed this visit to.

‘I’m sorry you’re still not allowed to leave,’ Sovran said. ‘It’s Q’zar, you know. If there’s one thing he hates, it’s the truth. He doesn’t want anybody to hear about that arm you found until he’s got the culprit behind bars.’

‘I missed the banquet because of it.’ Laia said, dejection written all over her face.

‘I’m sorry. But the reason I came to see you is not about the arm. It’s about the clone you met. Could you tell me about him, Laia?’

‘Eh?’ Laia frowned. Puzzled, she asked, ‘Tell you what?’

‘Everything. Everything.’ Sovran said, staring straight into Laia’s eyes.

‘Well,’ Laia said, gesturing Sovran to sit on the sofa as she took the chair opposite. ‘I was told he was a Carer once. The last of his kind. He was called Ord after the coding of his batch. Awful name, don’t you think? Anyway, he was transferred into the Hub as they were short of Packers and because of that he began deconstructing earlier than usual. But he’d gone to the…’ She gestured toward the perimeter. ’Not once, but a lot. Zuriko begged me to find out what he’d done and seen out there. She kept on and on until I finally gave in and agreed.

‘Yes. Zuriko, my so-called soul sister, contacted me because only I, she said, could wheedle the information out of him.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘The Chairman himself would hear of my good work, she promised. This was a special assignment.’ Laia cast her eyes upward, ‘What a fool I was! She did it deliberately. I just know it. She wanted to ruin my reputation and probably has.’

‘You could’ve refused,’ Sovran said, puzzled at the bitterness in Laia’s voice.

‘Yes, and I wish I had. But… I trust people too easily.’

‘Did the clone get nasty?’ Sovran asked, trying to bring the conversation back to what she was interested in.

‘No, not really. But the whole thing has made me a pariah, hasn’t it? That’s why, all of a sudden, I was off the guest list for the banquet.’ Laia looked so tearful that Sovran took her keen gaze off her for a few moments to rummage a tablet out of her shoulder bag.

‘So you think you were left off the guest list because you agreed to meet this clone?’ Sovran asked, looking back and setting the tablet to record.

‘Yes. Well, you tell me. I don’t know.’ Laia got up and walked across to the window. ‘All I know is that I’m under house arrest for doing what a citizen is supposed to do – report anything out of the ordinary. After, not before I met that clone, a rumour started going around that he was… unclean, that he’d contracted some disease from meeting barbarians… I don’t believe it. It was malicious rumour. And whoever started it, started it deliberately, knowing full well whose reputation was at stake. I believe Zuriko was behind it.’

‘When I get out of here, I’m going to tell her what I think of her and…and … Oh, when are they going to take that guard off my door! I’m sick of this! I can’t contact anyone! I can’t even receive calls! How much longer is this going to go on for?’

‘Don’t worry. Trust me. When this story hits the streets it’ll create such a storm that Q’zar won’t know what’s hit him. There’ll be no point in keeping you cooped up in here any longer. Believe me. The whole thing’ll be out in the open where it should’ve been right from the start.’

Laia returned to her seat. She was thinking there’s something about this Dellovar woman. The way she speaks makes you believe her. Feeling the intensity of Sovran’s gaze, Laia sensed she was going to do something important. It made her feel better, more hopeful. But what was she going to write?

‘Why don’t you do something on Zuriko? They say she’s rolling in money and a lot of it’s not legal.’

‘She is, as you say, very powerful and wealthy. But Laia, believe me, you’ll be out tomorrow and you’ll be able to get back to normal life.’

Laia smiled, ‘I hope so. I really do.’

‘Now, tell me more about the clone. The clone. Was he violent?’

‘No. I was scared, but no, he wasn’t violent. I would call it desperate, lonely, driven to despair. Like me!’ she said with an ironic humph. Then, continuing, ‘No, he was gentle. That’s what they’re supposed to be, isn’t it? Carers are, aren’t they?’

Sovran nodded as Laia carried on: ‘He told me he’d seen me before. On the day he submitted a C80. That seemed to upset him.’

When Laia finished telling her story, Sovran said, ‘Hmm, we’re told that they can’t feel love or any deep emotion, but I’m beginning to wonder after what you’ve just said if that’s true. Sounds as if this clone was in deep distress and feeling just as much hurt as we do. If they’re more like us than we’ve been led to believe, then what does that make us?’ Sovran asked herself more than Laia.

‘I don’t get you… Are you saying we’re the same?’

‘Well, think about it. The picture you’ve given me is of a clone, an ex-Carer, driven to despair by abandonment. So, what does he do? He’s so desperate he heads for there.’ Sovran nodded Outward. ‘And you tell me he was crying for help before he was dragged out of your room by that horrible Watchman.’ Laia nodded. ‘So, what does this make us? We may not be personally involved in cracking the whip above their heads, but look what happens when they deconstruct.’ Sovran splayed her hand like a fan toward Laia. ‘They’re bussed to the Encrypt and disposed of like some kind of consumable. And what do we do? Nothing. So, tacitly, we condone it.’

Laia looked down and in a very quiet voice, asked, ‘Do you really believe this?’

’Gorvik says their presence undermines the initiative of the manager classes. Undermine! I think he’s got his priorities the wrong way around. If this clone is in need of care and kindness, how can we do this to him? How can we be so inhuman?’

‘But…’ Laia didn’t know what to say.

’They all die earlier than we do ’cos they’re cloned from clones, but some – and the clone you saw is one of them – are transferred out of jobs they were trained to do. These are the ones that get junked for anti-social behaviour. There aren’t many. But all of them are eventually disposed of when they’re no longer able to work. And we all accept the official line that they are LPRs, half-wits, quarter brains, who don’t feel like we do. So, what’s this clone doing, crying out for help! He needs help – love and tender care is what he needs!’ Sovran slipped her tablet back into her case and stood up. ‘Thank you. I’ve got to go Laia.’

‘Oh, right. Yes.’ Laia got up and walked with her to the door.

Seeing the look of despair return to Laia’s face, Sovran took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Don’t worry. Tomorrow, you’ll be out. I promise.’

‘I hope so’. She smiled sadly. ‘I really can’t stand this much longer.’

‘Incredibly, there’s a rumour going around that the clone escaped from the Encrypt,’ Sovran said as she twirled her fingers bye-bye to Laia with a final, ‘Cheer up.’

When the door closed, Laia suddenly felt more alone than before. She walked to the window. In the distance, she could see Happiland Park. If Sovran could visit her, she wondered why Arron couldn’t.

Sovran almost ran back to her offices. She had the angle, she felt the rush. Words were pouring into her head. The headline: Who will care for the clones? ‘Tomorrow,’ she swore, ‘I’ll change this city forever. To hell with Q’zar!’