The 69th Clone

The building that everyone is familiar with, stood tall. With its logo of both open hands showing compassion and a letter M on its middle. The building was indeed imposing; It made it seem like it was unshakable, unbreakable even.

Jane then entered the building, and again every single employee had the same reactions and thoughts—'Not this woman again'

She then walked upstairs and was welcomed into one of the manager's office, as she didn't need any permission to enter his office; She was a VIP. One of the privileges of being a top ranker.

Psssh! Pssssh!

The metal plated sliding door then opened and she was greeted by a man, wearing a corporate a uniform embroidered with the name tag of. "Dr. J. Thompson" 

He then greeted her in an amicable manner, "Welcome, Miss Jane. So what brings you here this afternoon?"

"Stop it with the pleasantries, you know what I'm here for Thom." Jane said firmly.

She then sat down on the swivel chair. The whole room emanated a cozy feeling because of amber lighting strategically placed on each side of the room. It projected the personality of the person occupying the office, or at least that's what he wanted to suggest; that's probably how he wanted to appear.

"I assume that the reason you approached me is because you wanted to skip the line?" Dr. Thompson said politely, trying to break the ice.

"..."

However, his client didn't reply, so he just carried on with the conversation, "So how many clones this time?"

Jane then thought for a second and came up with a rational number, "twenty-eight"

"I see, then for how long do you want them made?" Dr. Thompson inquired.

Jane then replied, "One week." and the bargaining began.

But Dr. Thompson just very calmly and politely denied her by saying "I can do it for one and a half week at best"

...

Jane then finally budged and said, "Fine, I'll give you two weeks max"

"Okay, sure it's done" Dr. Thompson replied nonchalantly.

At that point, Jane got up of her chair and started leaving. However she was interrupted by Dr. Thompson.

"Wait, Ms. Jane, may I ask you a question? Why do you seem to be ordering much more clones lately? It hasn't been that long since your last purchase."

Jane turned back her head and stared at him fiercly, "None of your business."

"However, before leaving, Jane remembered something and said, "Oh, and before I forget, could you please send a truck to dispose of the useless clones from my house? I'll give you a tip. No—You know what, I'll just triple your pay instead of just doubling it."

'It's a good thing that Dr. Thompson interrupted me' she thought to herself.

Come on, Ms. Jane. We both know that our guild doesn't dispose of the clones. We recycle them and send them to the gulag instead," Dr. Thompson stated in a convincing manner.

Jane then remarked sarcastically, "Come on, Dr. Thom. We both know that is just corporate bullshit."

As Jane left the office, feeling relieved that she didn't ask for more clones, and that the number that she asked for was spot on.

After all, she was already suspicious to begin with, and even now Dr. Thompson was beginning to ask her, or rather interrogate her unknowingly, that is if he had already received an order from the higher ups.

Although it is a bit regrettable that she wasn't able to ask for up to her one hundredth clone, as it will definitely make her expedition much safer. But if she pushed it too far, it might actually warrant a secret investigation against her.

Then minutes later after Jane had left the room...

Dr. Thompson then made a phone call to his assistants through their Users Interface, "I need all of you to start making twenty-eight clones with Jane's DNA the top ranker right now."

"But boss, we're busy, we already have way too much workload." His assistant answered in a troubled voice.

However he just hushed them and said, "Then abandon them, and also I need them complete in two weeks!"

The assistant intimidated by his tone replied, "B-But boss, what are we going to do about the body of the clones? Two weeks is just way too short."

"I don't care! You have my permission to use the bodies from the old storage room, the ones that were about to be disposed of. I'm sure most of them are still functional." 

"O-Okay boss. Thank you."

...

The two men clad in orange clothing were then back at the same pristine, squeaky clean room. With the same old chair and claw machinery to operate.

[Authenticating the surgeon's identity-]

[Found a match on our database-]

...

[Facial Features verified...]

[Now Checking the cornea-]

...

[Eyes have been verified...]

[Now commencing DNA verification-]

[Requesting permission from the surgeon's to pluck a single strand of hair-]

"Okay! Okay!"

...

[DNA Authenticated]

[Granting Surgical Authority]

...

Whir! Whir! 

Whir! Whir! Whir!

Bzzzz! Bzzzz!

[Exercise drill concluded-]

[Now commencing operation J-69-C...]

And with the same protocols.

...

However this time something was different; The clone after injecting it with Jane's DNA didn't wail nor scream. It was eerily quiet, its eyes were already dead before the surgery that they were about to do.

-----------------------------------------

'Huh? What is this place? It's so dark—Why am I here?', That time I couldn't help but wonder at my sudden birth to life, I was like a kid that had suddenly gained consciousness.

Then as I was forced to go up, as if the light was guiding me to my path, I have suddenly gained the fragmented memories of Jane. But I didn't fight it—I quickly understood what was coming for me next, and that there was no way for me to fight it.

So, I just decided not to waste any energy, and steeled myself...

-----------------------------------------

Then as they performed the surgery, they noticed something different about its brain activity. The brain appeared to be wired differently based on the results of the real-time imaging projection, displayed to overlap with its actual brain via the virtual glasses inside their helmets.

But they didn't pay no mind to it at the time, this was probably how the brains of the older models were made, inefficient and disorganized due to the lacking technology at the time, and also as it was a direct order from their boss. So, contradicting it could make both their lives and livelihood at stake, hence they just made temporary adjustments to make it match the newer models upon completion.

[Jane's 69th clone]

[Class: Mechanic]

[Stats]

Strength: 100

Agility: 100

Stamina: 100

Intelligence: 100

Durability: 100

Luck: 100

Mana: 100

[Abilities: None]

[Info: One of the massed produced clones produced by the Messiah Guild, it is made from the DNA of the Human Female named Jane...]

[Registering information...]

[Information fully registered]

and all of his information from head to toe was uploaded onto their database.

He was then made to stand still in front of a mirror for eight hours long, in which he obediently followed.

-----------------------------------------

I remember! this was a part of the fragmented memory had awoken inside me, I must be careful to not let them know that I was not affected by the surgery; I still had a bit of free will, I can't make any moves that would raise suspicion.

-----------------------------------------

***

Before heading home, Jane decided to enter a coffee shop she accidentally stumbled upon.

It was named, Shiella's Cafe, because above it was displayed with a yellow neon light signboard.

The interior felt cozy, which matched her preferences, so she was attracted in.

...

Then upon sitting on the hovering chairs and tables, she connected her Users interface to the internet connection of the cafe. With a simple command, the height of both the chairs and tables was automatically adjusted to her liking; The Furnitures responded effortlessly to her preferences.

She was then greeted by a familiar looking cylinder-shaped robot, that was wearing the cafes employee's uniform.

[HE-LLO HU-MAN!] It said cheerfully in a monotonous voice.

[WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER?]

Jane then replied with, "One coffee with five shots of espresso." 

[ORDER PLACED! WOULD LIKE TO TIP US?] as the robot presented an 8-bit wink on its monitor.

"Ugh, Fine." Jane said irritably.

She then spent the remaining afternoon enjoying sips of her coffee before it turned dark, at which point she returned home.

...