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There is Another (Chapter 3)
Posted By: Chris Reebe<Adrenaline@si.rr.com>
Date: 23 July 2002, 4:21 am
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"Just get to class," John answered, releasing his grip on his friends. He had realized that he was too serious about this. It was just class... but he set a goal and he had to accomplish it.
Chris was lectured on how his tactic was 'an extreme threat to the crew with unlikely favorable outcomes'. He didn't care, though. He had done his job--------; distract Mr. Kyle.
After getting everyone to class on time, the rest of the lesson was a bore. Mr. Kyle preached about ship handling and how to give orders, as well as how to accept them. Chris sometimes became interested in the topic but John was always daydreaming; usually about a game he played during recess.
After flight class came math and science. Neither Chris nor John enjoyed these classes but they both did well. Once again, they both agreed that it's better to be on the battlefield than to be sitting behind a desk.
For the next month or so life was nothing special for the two friends. They went through the bore of school every day with the occasional break to run around during recess. After school they would stay late to play with their friends and sometimes invite each other over for dinner.
One day, though, was something special. John had invited Chris over for dinner and the two were playing outside.
A small truck rode up to John's house and stopped. The passenger door opened and a woman's head popped out.
"John?" asked a not-so-unfamiliar voice. "It's me, Dr. Halsey"
The two boys froze and looked up.
"I remember you" Chris said. "You're the one who gave John that coin"
"I remember you, too" she said. "You're the one who was on the top of the hill that day"
"So, what's up?" John asked.
"May I speak with you, please?"
John strolled over to the truck.
She closed the door behind him and said, "How would you like to be able to play games for real?"
"I'd love to" he answered, then thought about the question again. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if you come with me, then you can play games just like the ones you love...with a little twist to them"
"Okay. Can Chris come?"
"No, I'm sorry, John, he can't" Dr. Halsey said, glancing at Chris. "I do have something in mind for him though"
"I don't think I want to go"
"I was afraid you were going to say that" Dr. Halsey said. She put her hand around his shoulder, concealing a syringe in her palm. John felt a prick and he fell unconscious.
"Send him out" Dr. Halsey said to someone in the back of the truck.
A clone of John stepped out of the truck. He looked exactly like the real John. He was even programmed to have similar memories and tendencies.
As Dr. Halsey rode off with John in the back, she thought to herself, "Why wasn't Chris selected?"
Then, wanting to know the answer, she opened a link to a ship orbiting Eridanus 2.
"Beginner's Luck Operator" a voice said.
"Halsey, here. Transfer me to Mathis"
"Yes, ma'am" said the voice, a bit worried. "Why would Dr. Halsey, first in command of her project, need help from the ship she would be boarding soon anyway?" he thought to himself.
"Mathis speaking. What's wrong, Dr. Halsey?"
"You are in charge of confirming candidates for my project, correct?" she asked, a bit irritated.
"Yes, ma'am"
"Then why wasn't a perfectly good child chosen?"
"I'll need more information on the individual to answer that question, ma'am"
"Chris Liiter, Eridanus 2, six years old"
"Give me a moment to search the records...Ah ha, another was chosen from that colony, ma'am"
"So, what?" she asked, not seeing the point.
"UNSC ordered no more than one from a given colony, ma'am"
"Why would they create such a restriction?"
"My guess is so that there aren't too many clones roaming the same streets, ma'am. Don't know how they react to each other"
"Damn it" she thought to herself. "Thanks for your time, Mathis" she said, this time out loud.
"No problem, Dr. Halsey"
The link died.
Dr. Halsey signaled to the marine who drove with her. He immediately removed another syringe and pierced John's arm, making sure he wouldn't regain consciousness too early. The marine carried him out and followed Dr. Halsey towards another vehicle.
"This way, Anderson" Dr. Halsey said to the marine. "This will bring us to the ship I contacted earlier, Beginner's Luck"
When the ship reached Beginner's Luck, she sent Anderson to bring John in with the other children they had already gathered for the project. She then sat down, finally getting a chance to rest...
A few years later, Dr. Halsey's project seemed to be going well. The children had grown strong and smart and seemed to be accepting their new lifestyle. She went to check up on the clones she used to replace the children in the previous habitats.
She went through a few security precautions and finally reached an isolated computer in a small room. She searched every clone and found that no complications had occurred. This was true for all except clone 117...John's clone. The information shows that he had been taken apart and reconfigured many times. He was currently operative but further research was needed.
"Damn" she thought to herself. "What could have happened?"
"I will be out of work for a while, keep working steadily and contact me only during an emergency" she said over a COM channel on the ship.
Dr. Halsey walked through the corridors for several minutes until she reached the docking bay. She was forced to present her ID many times before she could board a ship alone.
When she reached the location of the clone she immediately recognized her surroundings. Only years before, she had taken John, her favorite subject, and left Chris alone, a regret she had to live with until now.
She saw Chris playing with John's clone. It looked like a flashback of that same day.
"John, come her please" she said.
Chris glanced up at her but the clone did not react.
"This isn't John," he said. "This is my toy robot"
"Nonsense. You do remember me, do you not?"
"Yeah. You took John the last time you were here"
"No, no, no. John is right next to you. Now John, come here. I have to speak with you"
"I told you before. This is not John. This is a robot. Look" he said, pulling back a flab of plastic skin on the clone's neck, revealing a small control panel. "See, I can make him do anything"
"Oh my...How did you..." Dr. Halsey stopped herself and asked a more important question. "Does anyone else know about this robot?"
"Nope. I don't want anyone else to use it"
"How would you like to see the real John?"
"Really? Sure!"
"But first I'm going to have to ask you to return the robot back to the way he was before you changed him"
"Sure" Chris said. He hit a few switches, pulled a few wires and said, "All done"
Chris carelessly followed Dr. Halsey into the same truck that John walked into years earlier.
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