Hiro didn’t see Dr. Berg again. Satisfied with his success, the doctor went back to Norway. Hiro himself continued meditating daily to keep his mind quiet. He wasn’t taking any chances.
The other clones’ memories were distant now, like the old memories he had once assumed were dreams. Once, in a masochistic temper tantrum, he reached for the memories on purpose, trying to grab hold of them, but they slipped away. He was moved to a cell in the regular wing, no longer needing medical separation from the others. Lo had given him his choice of cellmates, though, and Minoru Takahashi was willing to join him.
Minoru and Hiro became fast friends. Minoru had intended to one day become a clone, but his current record made it unlikely. He was in for treason, which meant a death sentence. He was surprisingly blasé about it.
Hiro watched with interest as Minoru toyed with others, manipulating people into giving him food, or spreading rumors to cause a fight between prisoners, always slipping into the background and never getting directly involved.
He wondered at one point if Minoru had manipulated things to room with Hiro, instead of the other way, but he didn’t care. Minoru gave him someone to focus on aside from the voices in his head.
Detective Lo brought them tea in their cell before breakfast one day. “You’ve been mentally cleared,” she said. “Dr. Berg is very pleased with you. And himself,” she added, a smirk playing on her lips showing she didn’t think much of the doctor. “I wanted to tell you some things that have happened.” She pointed a remote at the camera on the wall and clicked it. “Let’s have some privacy. So, about that cloning lab. As it’s on Luna, we have very little jurisdiction there. We’re looking into the matter officially on a diplomatic level, but I wanted you to know that I dropped some hints to some other interested parties.”
“To?” Hiro asked.
“A certain group of people are dedicated to hunting people associated with hackers. Stray clones, the hackers themselves, and so on. We can’t legally arrest people on Luna—”
“While hiring assassins is much more legal,” Minoru said helpfully.
Lo ignored him. “—but if one of your spare clones we didn’t catch dies in mysterious circumstances, then we don’t cry too much. Your situation is unique, and you’ve helped us identify an illegal cloning lab on Luna that is a threat to Pan Pacific United. The judge is sympathetic to your situation.”
“And?” Hiro asked, watching her carefully. He had been taking people-watching pointers from Minoru.
But instead of speaking, Lo produced her tablet. Hiro felt bile rise; he would never get used to seeing his own dead body on display in front of him. This Hiro had a thin face and long hair in three braids down his back. He had been choked to death.
“And his mindmap?”
“There is no known copy of him,” she said.
She looked like she was telling the truth. He closed his eyes and sat back on his bed in relief.
“This one was bad,” she said. “He’d been hatcheted. Pure psychopath. Had done a lot of damage on the streets of Luna. I’m not even sure he was doing what he was programmed to do.”
“Now what?” Hiro asked.
“From what you told us, that should be the last one. The lab is shut down. You’ve been cleared via psych test. I think we can reduce your sentence even further, but you’ll still be here for the next ten years or so.” As always, she was matter-of-fact when presenting good news or bad.
He sighed. “I’ll take it.”
Lo glanced at Minoru, then back at Hiro. “I wanted to show you something, by the way. I just heard about plans for a ship built on Luna. They are looking for a…unique crew. I know the main American working with the team. Hiro, your face has been seen several times, and few people understand your situation. You need a fresh start. May I recommend getting some distance learning on mechanical engineering with a focus on piloting spacecraft?”
“Fresh start, huh?” Minoru said, leaning forward.
“I’m not authorized to offer this to you, Takahashi,” Lo said, tucking her tablet away. “You’re very likely going to die for your crimes, not colonize a new planet.”
“That’s very true,” Minoru said, nodding. He leaned against the wall and sipped his tea.
Hiro got worried. Usually when Minoru looked like that, someone was going to get in a knife fight or lose dinner or something. He focused back on Lo when he realized that she was waiting for an answer.
“Sounds good. Better than being a pariah here on Earth.”
Wake Five: Celebrating Life
Connections
Wolfgang locked the garden doors when the team got inside. Joanna tried to feel comfort that at least they were all together now, but she knew IAN still ran the show. Ahead, something was splashing and flailing about in the lake. Wolfgang swore and took off, Joanna close behind him.
Maria and Paul struggled underwater in the lake. He was above her, holding her down with one hand and trying to stab with a thin knife with the other. She fought, and he had trouble bracing himself in the deep water.
Maria’s head surfaced, took a deep breath, and then disappeared again. Joanna thought that Paul had gotten her, but his head abruptly disappeared as well. It looked as if Maria had pulled him under.
Wolfgang dove into the lake immediately, followed, to Joanna’s dismay, by Hiro.
“No, Hiro, don’t!” she shouted, but he was gone.
“IAN, what happened?” demanded Katrina.
“Maria and I were fighting. Then Paul came and tried to stab her.”
“Not helpful,” Katrina said.
They stood, side by side, watching the other four crewmembers fight underwater. An arm lashed out and then blood bloomed in the water.
Katrina looked to where they had dropped the medical supplies. “Come on. We’re going to need those.”
One did not work for Sallie Mignon for over a century and not learn a little about self-defense. She demanded it of her employees, stating, “Life may be cheap, but don’t make it free.” Maria never really followed what she meant until she’d had a few clones with short life spans.
Maria’s fall into the water put her at an advantage of sorts. She had always been a strong swimmer; if she could just avoid the knife, she might outlast Paul.
Paul lunged at her with her boning knife. She deflected it, only getting a slight cut on her arm. He clumsily tried to hold her down with one arm, slash with the other, all while keeping his own head above water. The human-created lake’s sides were more vertical, like a swimming pool’s, and he had no shallow end to prop against.
She finally grabbed his weapon hand, pulled herself up—worryingly close to the knife—and took a deep breath. Then she dove, dragging him with her. He struggled, but this time she wouldn’t let him go.