{"id":2121,"date":"2016-04-21T16:48:25","date_gmt":"2016-04-21T16:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/?p=2121"},"modified":"2016-09-12T16:49:18","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T16:49:18","slug":"short-story-its-not-you-its-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/short-story-its-not-you-its-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Story: It\u2019s not you. It\u2019s me."},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/strong>\u2019m laying on a stiff bed, in a stark, yet brightly-lit, hospital room. My head is pounding and the base of my spine aches and tingles. The sting of Lysol and Clorox burns my throat and nose. Two stern men in black suits, leer at me. My flesh is crawling. I don\u2019t know whether in reaction to the creepy men or to my apparent operation.<\/p>\n

The taller of the two men removes dark sunglasses from a pointy nose and fidgets with them. \u201cI\u2019m very sorry Mr. Anderson to be the bearer of bad news.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm?\u201d Is the best I can grunt. I guess I\u2019m still groggy from the sedatives.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d the taller agent awkwardly clears his throat. \u201cCraig, you\u2019ve been cloned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA clone?\u201d I creak out. I should be shocked, but I\u2019m not. I\u2019ve been working unimaginably hard and opportunities for sleep are infrequent. Getting the assistance of a clone to complete my government contract is exactly the kind of problem solving I\u2019m likely to do. The catch is, I don\u2019t remember doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process is very invasive. In order for your clone to be mentally equivalent to you, it is necessary to analyze your entire brain. The downside to this procedure is that it erases from your memory, your last twenty-four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the bad news?\u201d My voice is raspy but slowly improving.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell umhh…\u201d<\/p>\n

The shorter burly agent cuts in. His accent isn\u2019t as polished as I\u2019d expect from a government agent. \u201cAs you probably know, clones don\u2019t have souls. It shares your DNA, your physical appearance, and even your mind, but not your soul. Its conscience is not yet fully established. Without guidance, it might act impulsively and criminally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The taller man takes back control of the conversation. \u201cYour clone recovered more quickly than you did. It went to your home and has been using your technology for terrorism all afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

My voice caught in my throat in horror. My technology, in the wrong hands, could indeed be used to wreak catastrophic horror.<\/em> \u201cMy XL500?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid so.\u201d The tall agent\u2019s face keeps twitching as if a fly were landing on it. \u201cWe could storm into your house and arrest him, but in the process he might launch a cyber attack and delete all of your technical progress.\u201d I smile ironically, thinking how that was very likely the kind of thing I just might do when threatened, but I let him continue. \u201cWe\u2019d then have to keep him imprisoned until his DNA entropied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The burly agent speaks up, \u201cAnd who knows how long we\u2019d be waiting for that. Your clone could disintegrate into a pool of primordial ooze within a few days or it could take years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you need my help?\u201d<\/p>\n

The burly agent thwacks the tall agent\u2019s shoulder. \u201cI told ya he was smart.\u201d The tone of his voice doesn\u2019t feel like a compliment.<\/p>\n

The tall agent answers, \u201cWe need you to secure the technology, halt terrorist misuse, and shorten your clone\u2019s life-cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean murder myself.\u201d My heart pounds and my body starts shaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, smart!\u201d He winks at the burly agent. \u201cBut don\u2019t think of it as murder. You own your DNA, which gives you the moral, ethical and legal authority to do what you want with your own body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s like cutting off a cancerous tumor.\u201d The burly agent grins as if killing people was a fun, past-time for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t I just authorize you to do it?\u201d How much will this failed experiment set me back financially?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNope, only you can kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow. Are you still dizzy and head-achy?\u201d<\/p>\n

I push up on my elbows and say, \u201cI\u2019m feeling better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood man. Alright, get dressed and we\u2019ll debrief you on the way.\u201d The tall man holds the door open for the burly man. He nods and they leave.<\/p>\n

Slowly, I stand on my wobbly legs. The anaesthetic must have been potent because my every muscle groans, as if being used for the first time.<\/p>\n

The men escort me to a black van with lots of technology inside. The ride is bumpy and each swerve makes it hard to stay on my side bench. Thin seat padding is inadequate for protecting my sore tailbone over the harsh bumps.<\/p>\n

They explain how, like me, my clone is very smart. He will try to trick and confuse me. I need to trust the government, ignore his protestations and complete the mission. They reiterate the mission until I can recite it back to them. The back doors swing open and it\u2019s time to end myself.<\/p>\n

Evening sets in on my lazy neighborhood. Scents of pine and plumeria tingle my nose. Somehow, given this horrendous task, it\u2019s like I\u2019m looking at the world through new eyes.<\/p>\n

For two years now, I\u2019ve been designing a surveillance system for the CIA. My software can hack into every security camera system in the world, undetected. It then performs facial recognition on every person in range. Milliseconds later, it finds all target faces and exports the encrypted results. Even now, I can detect the location of most of the worlds most wanted criminals and terrorists.<\/p>\n

My garage door is cracked open, so I lift it and roll under. Installing a quiet roll-door was costly, but I see now, well worth it.<\/em> My right hand starts dripping blood. I must have scratched it.<\/em> Flickering terminals, hard-drive banks and mainframe computers glow eerily in the mostly darkened carport.<\/p>\n

I enter and find myself in the kitchen, making a sandwich. I point a heavy revolver at my clone and slide the safety off. I\u2019m looking forward to being my own person again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are\u2026\u201d My clone says and then his eyes widen in horror. I\u2019m surprised to observe how much I slouch. I should work on my posture.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been naughty, Craig.\u201d I find this surreal experience a little funny.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government sent you?\u201d His eyes reveal bewilderment, ignorance, and an apparent innocence. He seems to have no clue what he has done to me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey say you\u2019ve used the XL500 for terrorist activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I turned it off because they\u2019re using it to spy on private citizens for blackmail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll design my next clone with less of a sense of righteous indignation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He holds his hands out defensively. \u201cBut you\u2019re the clone!\u201d He is beside himself both literally and figuratively.<\/p>\n

I laugh at how he probably really believes it. \u201cOf course you\u2019d think that! Look, it\u2019s not you. It\u2019s me!\u201d I say and pull the trigger.<\/p>\n

My nose starts bleeding almost as much as his chest. I stop the flow of my nose with tissues as the lights go out in the eyes of the body on the kitchen floor.<\/p>\n

A moment later, several agents in black kevlar burst in and turn on the lights. Two men begin to deal with the corpse, while a van pulls up and starts wheeling equipment into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait! That\u2019s my equipment! My project! I\u2019m not done!\u201d I wave the revolver around like I intend to use it.<\/p>\n

The tall agent walks over to me, takes my revolver and laughs. \u201cYes you are!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my payment!\u201d<\/p>\n

He hands me a check ,while he and the other agent stuff back sniggers and chortles.<\/p>\n

A million dollar check! But I was only owed $400,000!<\/em> I hold it up questioningly.<\/p>\n

They break out in guffaws. Finally, the burly agent calms down enough to talk. \u201cYou earned it. Hahahaha. One of the downsides to being a clone is extreme hemophilia hemorrhaging. Seeing the way you are leaking blood right now, I\u2019d say you only have a few hours left to spend your check. Hahahaha.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m laying on a stiff bed, in a stark, yet brightly-lit, hospital room. My head is pounding and the base of my spine aches and tingles. The sting of Lysol and Clorox burns my throat and nose. Two stern men in black suits, leer at me. My flesh is crawling. I don\u2019t know whether in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2122,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121\/revisions\/2122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}