Summary: "Now, Nala Se has told him about the other clones, how they are identical copies of one man, bred specifically to defend the Republic when the time comes. But seeing them is another matter entirely." Tech's not sure what to expect of the rest of Tipoca City. It definitely surprises him, as do the other clones. One-shot.
From One Prison To Another
Tech's not sure what to expect, not sure what exactly it's like beyond Nala Se's lab. But after his unplanned meeting with Lama Su, he finally has the ability to find out. And he's not at all prepared for what the rest of Tipoca City is like.
The white halls feel like a maze in comparison to the few conjoined rooms that Tech has lived the first years of his life in. In truth, he does get lost. Perhaps, he should have considered studying the layout of the city on his datapad before coming out into it.
Now, Nala Se has told him about the other clones, how they are identical copies of one man, bred specifically to defend the Republic when the time comes. But seeing them is another matter entirely. So many individuals that share the same looks and have such different personalities…he probably wouldn't believe it if he hasn't been told it time and time again.
But the other clones are most definitely not what he's expected. He's heard tales of their brotherhood and kinship, and this is not that. He feels their eyes on him at every turn, hears their judging mutters.
"You are not like the other clones, CT-9907." Nala Se tells him.
He tilts his head inquisitively. "What do you mean?"
"You might call it…special."
And being special, according to the other clones, is not exactly a good thing. Special means different, and being different, apparently, is bad.
They call him defective, a freak, and so many other vile words that he's never heard directed at him before. And they call him Goggles. He doesn't yet know that the nickname will come to haunt him in his nightmares, that he'll come to loathe being different in a city full of the same face hanging around every corner, that he'll want Nala Se to lock him back up forever.
He keeps his head down, those first few rotations. But the other clones see it as an invitation to take their teasing to another level. They start pushing and shoving, roughening him up. They call him a coward for not fighting back. No, this is nothing like the kinship he's heard of. He knows better than to ask Nala Se to help him, for he's coming to realize that the Kaminoans don't care what happens as long as his training isn't delayed. The first time that he comes back to the lab with a split lip and a crack on one of the lenses of his goggles, Nala Se lectures him. But it's not his fault that he's incapable of fighting back, that his training has been more focused on his mind than on combat. It's not his fault that he doesn't like violence. Does he have to like it just because he's been bred to fight a war that's yet to come?
No, Tipoca City and the other clones are nothing like they've been made out to be.
He's spent so long locked away from it all, but now that he has access to it…he's never felt so alone.