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“I think my original tried to lead a coup.”
SP29 appeared unfazed by that theory.“Well, yeah, somewhere along the line, we rebelled.”
“But don’t you want to know why?”Rhys pressed.“We’ve been drifting through deep space and cloning ourselves as we die off for years, and we have no idea why.”
“Whatever it was, it was bad,” SP29 replied.“We’ve always agreed that it was best for us to stay in the fringes of space and stick to ourselves.It was instinctual.We’ve always known it was dangerous for people like us in civilized space.”
“People?”Rhys hadn’t heard any of them refer to themselves as such.
Irritation crossed SP29’s face, something Rhys couldn't remember having seen from him before.“We’re people who have some cybernetic enhancements.Cyborgs are people.”
Rhys couldn’t resist asking, “Why do you still go by your cyborg designation?”
“I don’t think my original was the nicest person.I’m not sure I want to be Samuel Pelletier.”He shrugged.“I’m still thinking about who and what I am and what I want to be.”
“Is there something you want to talk about?”
SP29 looked like was about to speak, then hesitated.“It’s complicated.”
“How the hell is any of this uncomplicated?”
“Fair point.It’s about Jasmine and DL16.Darius,” he quickly added.
“I didn’t know DL16 chose a new name.”
“Why would you?You’ve been spending a lot of time with Hannah.It hasn’t gone unnoticed.”Before Rhys could respond to that, SP29 added, “That’s what normal people do.It’s good that we’re forming relationships.I’m not angry.”
“You still haven’t told me why things are complicated for you.”
SP29 exhaled and looked away.“What do you know about love triangles?”
The term was foreign to Rhys.“Nothing.”
“Then I’m not sure you’ll be able to help me.”He changed the subject.“You said you saw your original being killed?”
“He was executed in cold blood.He was on his knees, hands bound behind his back, while someone in our uniform accused him of leading a coup.”
“Did you recognize the face or voice?”
“No, it wasn’t one of us.”A possible explanation struck Rhys.“Do you think there were others like us, and we did away with their DNA after we took back our independence?”
SP29 shrugged.
“Consider it,” Rhys urged.“What would have been the point of enhancing and cloning only twenty men?There must have been an army of us at one point.”
“What about an army of five or ten each?Why recruit one hundred men for a fucked-up military project when twenty will suffice, then clone each five times?”
SP29’s theory made sense.“Damn it.”
“We agreed not to look too closely into our past,” SP29 reminded him.“We all thought it best to simply move forward and live our lives peacefully.There’s no point in looking behind us.”
“There is when the flashbacks are causing the physical symptoms mine are,” Rhys retorted.Anger tugged at him, an unfamiliar emotion that he already hated.He didn’t want to be angry with his friend, who didn’t care about the problems he was having nearly as much as he expected.“I passed out on the path today after I saw myself being murdered.I want to know why this is happening, so I can put a stop to it.Don’t you?”
“My original was likely a terrible person, as was yours.Kind and sane people don’t take part in building up a cybernetic army.We’re weapons of war, Rhys.”SP29 held up his palms to show off the ports in them, the same ones Rhys had.With a single touch, they could send a lethal rush of energy through an organic being.
“Kind and sane people don’t execute others, either,” Rhys replied.“Do you want to know what I saw?”
SP29 folded his arms across his chest.“Fine, send it to me.”
