Clone City

Warton smirked at the sight. All along the Midround, citizens clamouring at the doors of officials, waving papers and banners and chanting, ‘Referendum, referendum, referendum.’ Perfect, he thought. His pace faltered when his telecom rang and he saw it was from Q’zar. To hell with it, he thought, tossing it into a refuse chute.

Outwardly, his face looked no different than normal. But inwardly he was flying high. All day he had been seething, but now he was up there, ready to let rip. He’d lost count of how many uppers he’d popped. Couple of tubes? He could feel heat burn across his shoulders. He could feel heat as he curled his fingers one by one into a fist and in the intent of each movement toward the fulfilment of his goal. It was party time.

He stepped off the main corridor just as the PA system blared a red alert. Warton stopped. The demonstrators fell silent. Everyone froze. Then someone shouted it was a hoax and the demonstrators began to protest even more loudly.

The guard at Laia’s door stood to attention on seeing Warton approach.

‘At ease,’ Warton said, taking out a pack of cigarettes and offering him one.

‘Thank you, Domo.’

‘Anything to report?’

‘Nothing, Domo.’

‘Well, you can go now.’

‘Go, but…?’

‘It’s okay. You’re needed at the perimeter. Go to North Junction 8. Everything’s changed. It’s red alert. We’ve been told to defend the city.’

‘It’s probably a false alarm,’ Warton said, seeing the guard’s dumbfounded expression. ‘They...’ He thumbed toward the protesters, ‘...think it’s a hoax. But you better get moving.’

As the guard made to go, Warton said, ‘Oh, let me have your telecom, can’t seem to find mine. You can get another one from Braun later.’

The guard unclipped his telecom and handed it over, stunned at the news and wondering at how Warton could be so flippant.

Warton turned the telecom over in his hand, waiting until the guard was out of sight before entering Laia’s apartment.

On hearing of the red alert, Arron headed straight for Darvin’s offices. By the time he arrived, it was pandemonium. Secretaries were carrying equipment out of one office into another, security personnel everywhere. Flashing his ID, Arron walked along the normally quiet corridors, squeezing to one side as a stream of secretaries bustled past.

He entered Darvin’s outer office and stopped to take in the scene that met his eyes. Q’zar was shouting orders down his telecom, Sovran was in a corner covering one ear trying to hear a conversation on hers. O was seated, gazing at the floor while Lara paced up and down in front of him. In the adjoining room, he could see security personnel sat in front of an array of screens that had been assembled to view strategic points of the city.

‘Where’s Gorvik?’ Arron asked, looking around and wondering if the world had gone mad.

‘He says he’ll be along shortly. Got to make sure his tissue banks are safe first,’ Darvin answered, glancing nervously at the darkness outside.

‘Can’t he get someone else to do that?’

‘Apparently not,’ Darvin said irritably. His thoughts were elsewhere. He had been trying to contact Zuriko unsuccessfully for the last hour. He wanted her by his side.

‘What in the Codes is going on?’ Arron asked, directing his question at no one in particular.

Sovran, finishing her call, managed to answer before another call came: ‘Q’zar thinks the city’s going to be attacked. O says he saw robots on the Outside.’

‘Robots!’

‘No, no,’ cried O. ‘I didn’t see them. A clone saw them. He scribbled a message that read eight robots and threw it at me.’

‘Threw it at you?’

‘Yes, we think a robot may have murdered Valchek,’ said O, stirring in his chair but too tired to explain everything all over again.

Arron looked over at Q’zar who was still talking down his telecom. ‘Look Hersh, have someone go down and let Chu out. Yes, that’s right. We need every man we have and he’s one of our best. Brief him on the situation.’

Arron looked around and was on the point of asking Darvin what he thought, when suddenly a flash of light lit the sky. As everyone turned toward the window, a dull boom was heard. They could see nothing, but someone from the adjoining room called out: ‘It’s the Old Bio. It’s been hit!’ From the window, they could see a large cloud of grey dust billow up. Before they could utter a word, someone in the other room called them to the screens. Q’zar rushed in followed by the others.

One screen showed a robot at North Gate, another one at the South-west Gate, and yet another could be seen appearing at the South Gate. Gradually, eight robots were visible as well as the irreparable damage their thin laser fire was inflicting. Seemingly oblivious to the gunfire of those defending the perimeter, they moved methodically forward. One screen flashed red: perimeter defence breached at north-east sector.

Arron’s first thoughts were for Laia. He looked at Q’zar. ‘Is Drovny still being held?’

At first, Q’zar didn’t answer. His attention was riveted to the images of the robots.

Arron shook his shoulder. ‘I said, is Laia Drovny still being held?’

‘What? Yes, wait.’ Q’zar turned to a sub-lieutenant and told him to call the guard at Laia’s door.

‘No answer, Domo.’

Q’zar looked at Arron and raised a hand in a gesture of utter bewilderment.

Arron rushed out of the room. Q’zar was about to rush after him, but, looking back at the screens, his feet turned to lead as he saw buildings near the first line of defence collapse and clones running and screaming in all directions. Just then, his telecom rang. He saw it was from Chu.

‘Look’s bad, Domo. May I respectfully suggest all key citizens be allowed to take refuge in the Midround?’

‘Yes, give the order. And Chu, I… come up here. Finish what you’re doing, then come up and, oh yes, there’s one other thing, before you come…’

Laia lay on the sofa reading News Talk on her tablet. She was thinking Sovran really had stirred things up. She had nothing but praise for Laia ‘volunteering to meet the clone.’ She wondered at that choice of words. Still, what did it matter if she was free tomorrow. But what was the red alert about, she thought. Was it to disperse the demonstrators whose chanting she could still hear? Hearing the door open, she swung round.

She recognized the Watcher. He was the one who had brought Ord. She put the tablet down and got up.

‘What do you want?’ she asked coldly.

Warton did not answer. He looked around as if there was something he had come to find.

‘I asked you a question. You don’t just walk in here without knocking!’

Warton walked casually over to her.

‘Get out!’ Laia shouted, pointing at the door.

She did not see his eyes narrow, but she did sense something menacing in the way he worked his tongue over his front teeth.

Warton sighed, looked from side to side, ignoring her question with a kind of hang-dog expression, before he struck her hard across the face with the back of his hand.

Laia gasped as she reeled backward.

When she came to a stop, she was shaking. Warton rushed over and threw her on to floor. As she tried to get up, he kicked her hand away so that she fell face down onto the carpet. As soon as she rolled over, Warton sat on top of her and pushed her V-neck top up over her face.

Feeling his rough hand snap her bra free, she struck him as hard as she could on the side of his head with her elbow, then grabbed his ear and wrenched it so hard she managed to slip out from beneath him. But before she could stand up, he had grabbed her from behind and pulled her down again. Her screams were cut short by another hard slap across the face. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. She twisted sideways to shield herself from more blows, but no sooner had she done so than she felt the slobber of his tongue on her neck.

Feeling her buttocks hard against him, Warton was well lusted up. He started to yank her slacks down with one hand while his right pulled her head back by the hair. She heard him grunt, ‘It’s no good screaming. Guard’s gone, I’m here, now you can be good, bad, either way makes no difference…’

Suddenly, the door opened.

Warton leapt to his feet.

Arron took one look at Laia’s terror-stricken face and realized immediately what had been going on. Laia covered her breasts as she rushed to his side in the doorway.

Up to this point, neither Warton nor Laia had noticed the distant rumbling of the battle at the perimeter. Arron walked up to Warton, his eyes blazing with fury.

‘Get out!’ he shouted, pointing toward the door with Laia cowering behind him.

As Warton straightened his tunic and made to brush himself down, he knew he had crossed the point of no return. It was all-or-nothing now. He walked to the door, drew his gun on his blind side, closed the door, turned and shot Arron in the back.

Laia jumped at the sound and, in the same instant, saw Arron collapse in a heap at her feet. She covered her mouth and, kneeling down, gasped, ‘Oh, oh, no, no…’

Warton locked the door, shoved his gun back into its holster, and strode over to where Laia knelt. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her howling over to the sofa. Throwing her upon it, he began to yank her slacks off.

Following Q’zar’s orders, Chu went to Laia’s apartment first. He was puzzled at seeing no guard at the door. Hearing screams from inside, he tried the door. Finding it was locked, he drew his gun before inserting the master key.

Warton froze when he saw Chu enter. He stood up, pulled his trousers up and began buckling his belt. They stared at one another.

Laia crawled away from him.

With his gun trained on Warton, Chu flipped his telecom open.

‘This is your last time, Warton.’

‘What’re you saying? The bitch wanted it. Anyway, what are you doing out? Good to see you, man,’ Warton bantered, realizing that Chu had not noticed Arron’s body which was partly hid by the sofa.

‘Take your shooter out and throw it over there,’ Chu said. ‘Slowly.’ Warton did so. He watched his gun spin across the carpet.

‘I don’t think you’re glad to see me out,’ said Chu. ‘I think you put me in there. It’s urgent, put me through now,’ Chu shouted into his telecom. It was then that he noticed Arron’s feet.

Shakily, Laia got up to her feet and tottered over where Chu stood in front of the door.

Not taking his eyes off Warton for a second, Chu reached for a coat that hung behind Laia and handed it her. She pulled it on.

Getting no response from Security, Chu began to think what he should do.

Warton nodded toward the window and said, ‘Sounds like a war going on out there.’

‘Don’t try anything, Warton,’ Chu snapped, his eyes glued to Warton’s every move.

When Warton turned, he smiled.

Chu gave a gasp of pain.

Laia swung round. She saw a knife come out of Chu’s back as he staggered forward. Warton rushed at him. Chu fired. Warton clutched his stomach. A second shot made his face twist in agony as his knees gave beneath him. Both sank to the floor almost banging their heads as they fell.

Laia’s gaze was riveted upon the black-gloved hand that held the blood-smeared knife. She knew that hand. But the face that stepped into view startled her. It wore the mask of another age. The masked figure slammed the door shut and raised the knife like a mantis ready to strike.

Laia stumbled back, as the howling mouth of the Noh mask followed her. When she felt her head bang up against a cupboard she knew she could retreat no further. She was trapped at the end of the short passage between the breakfast bar and electric cooker. She readied herself to grab the arm that held the knife. One, no; two, no; three, no, not yet, not yet…

The room shook violently.

Laia grabbed the edges to the worktops on either side to stop from falling. In the same instant, she saw Zuriko thrown to the floor. She rushed forward, slamming drawers that had slid open barring her way as she did so. As she turned toward the door, she saw Zuriko on all fours scrambling to pick up the knife that she had dropped. The room was still swaying and china crashing onto the floor as Laia rushed into the corridor.

She was bouncing off the sides of the corridor as she raced toward the Midround. Reaching it, she tore into an open elevator and gasped, ‘Ground level’.

She was about to sink down onto the floor when she realized the elevator had not responded. She sprang forward and slammed her hand on the ‘shut doors’ button. As the doors closed, the elevator flashed an ‘out of service’ sign. Frantically, she held the button down.

The destruction of one of the oldest bio-dome pillars had sent shockwaves throughout the Tower. When the Tower’s shaking died down and became a slow sway, a secretary turned and said, ‘It’s the enemy. Asking for the Chairman.’ He held a telecom out for Darvin to take.

Darvin was trembling, rubbing his mouth. He stared at the telecom.

‘Take it! For Code’s sake, will someone take it!’ screamed Sovran, snatching the telecom from the secretary’s hand and sticking it into Darvin’s.

Darvin stuttered, ‘I am Darvin, Chairman of…’ He gulped, as the machine voice of a robot interrupted with a demand for immediate and unconditional surrender. Darvin turned to the others, ‘If we don’t surrender, it says they’ll destroy the Tower.’ No one spoke. The hopelessness of their position was obvious. Q’zar’s head dropped. Darvin choked, ‘We surrender.’

A secretary pointed to the screen he had linked to the call. All eyes turned to it. There, they saw Sapor.

‘All forces at Ground Level to disarm and leave the Tower. All directors and nobles to remain at Topround. All civil servants to proceed to Midround and wait for our arrival in the auditorium. It is there that you will sign the terms of the surrender in one hour’s time as dictated by our revered leader Moran II, descendant of Koron III. Any further resistance will result in the destruction of the Tower.’

When the Tower steadied, the elevator responded. Reaching ground floor, Laia stepped out into mayhem. She pressed herself against a wall to get out of the way of the stampede. Someone screamed at her to run. When she didn’t, another grabbed her by the arm and pulled her headlong onto a walkway. She clung to one side as people rushed past. They were all running, running, running.

Oblivious to the announcements of surrender blaring overhead and instructions to citizen and clone alike to return to their homes and stay indoors, warning against resistance, and reassuring everyone that the situation was under control, she was carried further and further from the Tower.

When the walkway finally came to an end, she tripped off. Without looking where she was going, she stumbled down to street level. It was pitch dark. Looking around, she could not recognize the district. People were swarming around like shadows. Some were crying, others lay groaning on the ground and many were being carried. Swept into the throng, she noticed crowds trying to pull the injured out from under fallen masonry. All around, people were crying for help. She coughed as the dust caught in her throat. Not looking where she was going, she bumped into someone. A stocky woman. They looked into the shadows of one another’s faces mumbling apologies. They made to pass one another again but blocked each other’s way by stepping in the same direction.

‘Are you okay?’ the woman asked, seeing how beaten and blood-stained Laia’s face was.

‘….’

When Laia’s coat fell open and the woman saw that she wore nothing, she said, ‘Here, let me help you.’

She led Laia by the hand. One look into Laia’s eyes told her everything she needed to know.

‘Come on,’ she said, putting an arm around her and guiding her through a complicated pattern of lanes to a ramshackle shed.

Once inside, she made Laia sit down and set about making her a hot drink. After she had taken some sips, she dabbed the blood off her face. As Laia felt her ordeal shift to the really happened and really was, she was wracked with heart-rending sobs.

Eva hugged her as a sister.