Chapter Three, New Management

            Amy stayed silent for a moment, dumbstruck with confusion.  "Zees eez where we will stay," Sebastien said, motioning toward a hotel like building.  "We do not own zees establishment, so we must stay on a low profile, and not leave our area."

            Annie looked surprised.  "You do not own it?  Are you no longer in charge of this conspiracy?"

            Sebastien shook his head.  "Zee organization eez under new management I am afraid.  I shall explain more later."

            Annie looked angry that she was going with someone other than the leader, but obediently followed Amy and Sebastien into the hotel.  Amy just shifted her view between them, hoping that she would survive.

Memo From The Real Director:

To all still loyal:

            Here is the new plan.  It is not fair for we who have worked so hard to bring human beings to a level of perfection that we have been shut down.  Our former leader has been experimenting with subjects Thirteen through Sixteen in each set.  We will kidnap the original twelve in each set, and delete their emotions, with the exception of loyalty before we return their perfection.  There is no word on the whereabouts on Amy, Number Nine, but we know Three is dead.  Andys Three and Nine will be made leaders of their group since they cannot be paired with Amys.

                                                                                                Dr. Marcowitz

Re: To all still loyal

From: cindy28@projectcrescent.com

            Please tell me what your plans with Amy, Number Seven are.  I'd say we discard that horrible child, and only leave room for good clones in our elite!

                                                                                                Cindy, Number Twenty Eight

From: The Real Director

To: Cindy, Number Twenty Eight

Re: To All Still Loyal

            Do you think that I cannot handle a now ordinary fourteen-year-old girl?  We will kidnap her just like we will the other Amys.  Seven is no different.  We will fight the old leaders, and obtain their clones as well, and one clone will not stop us from doing all of that now will it?  Only if you let it, which I won't.

                                                                                                Dr. Marcowitz

From: Tammy

To: The Real Director

Re: To All Still Loyal

            It was good thinking to take all the clone powers for now.  It's a good thing that the clones with Sebastien are so rebellious too, they'll never learn anything useful from that nutcase at this rate.

                                                                                                Tammy

            Amy realized that her father must have somehow become rich since she last saw him, when she found herself in a suite.  Maybe he owned a business.  Either that, or he stole the money.  "Zees ez zee living room," Sebastien explained to Amy.  Then, he addressed the three Amys and four Andys sitting on soft couches in this lovely room with flowers on a nicely finished coffee table, and with pale yellow walls with a flower wallpaper strip across the top of it.  "Here are Amy, Number Fifteen, and Amy, Number Nine."

            "I remember you," an Amy said.  "You're evil!"  Amy jumped, but she realized that the Amy was pointing at Annie.

            "Aly!  So you're the one who almost killed Sebastien?" Annie asked angrily, refusing to sit like she was told to.

            Amy gasped.  Her father was not her favorite person, but she didn't want anyone, especially another Amy, trying to kill him.  "Aly?  You tried to kill my dad?"

"He's an android!  He runs on batteries, and he was trying to unite some of the other clones to take over the world," Aly began.  "And I just gave him batteries from Amy, Number Seven's Walkman.  They were Energizer.  I…I…I had no idea that they would kill him!"

"Aly!  My father is not an android!  That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Amy shrieked.  Still, knowing that she was a clone, it was quite possible now.

"Yes, he is," Annie said.  "It's true.  He has a human brain, and an android body."

"I can't believe this.  I can not believe this!" Amy said.  "First I'm a clone, now my dad's an android.  What's my mother?"

"Everyone," Sebastien addressed the group.  "Es zer anyone here who doesn't know of their origins?"

Three of the Andys raised their hands, and one dumbstruck looking Amy raised hers.  "Okay, I will explain it once.  Thirty years ago, I began research on cloning.  At first, I hired a group of scientists to clone a group of women to help me carry out my experiments.  They are sometimes known as the pink smocks.  Unfortunately, their…"

"They had no emotions or intellect so their only capability is to obey commands," Aly said fiercely.

"Shut up," Sixteen said.  "Fourteen needs to hear the real story, not some made up bogus from your large trap!"

Fifteen looked at her in alarm.  She then decided that Sixteen was one clone whom she would avoid.

"As I was saying, I ordered another set of clones to be made.  I cloned just about everyone on my staff.  Fifteen, your mother was one of them.  Then, I had an idea later on…"

"MY mother is a clone too?" Amy shrieked.  "That's impossible!"

"Anyway, later on I decided zat I would create perfection amongst zee world.  I ordered scientists to find males and females from around the world who excelled either physically, mentally, had good vision, could read quickly, ect.  Zere DNA was taken, and used to make you.  All of my workers were told that zere were twelve Amys and Andys, but there were sixteen.  Only one Amy was discovered by the original scientists."

"Me," Aly said.

"Yes, Thirteen.  So, zee scientist in charge of your birth pierced your ears so that you could not be used for good causes.  You were all, except for Amy, Number Thirteen, given to members of our organization, and raised until now.  Now, we shall begin our goals," Sebastien said.

"Really?" an Andy asked.  "What goals?"

"To take over the world," Aly provided.

"Finally!" Amy, Number Sixteen said.  "My mother was really being obnoxious about me hiding my gifts all of a sudden.  Well, I'm not going to do that anymore."

Annie looked at her sympathetically, if it was possible for her to do that, and she decided that she now had an ally.  Amy made a mental note to talk to Aly as soon as she could.

"Well, some of you have certain flaws that will be corrected.  I need to stabilize Amy, Number Nine's DNA.  You wait here, and get to know each other better."

Amy walked toward the door, and found that it was locked.  "What are you doing?" Amy Sixteen asked, pulling her away from the door.

"Back off!  I'm trying to get us out of here!" she shrieked.

"Out of here?" Amy Sixteen asked.  "But why?  We can take over the world!  Why run away when you could own everything on this Earth?  You could have anything you wanted!"

"But that's wrong!" Aly objected.

"No it isn't, Thirteen," Sixteen said cruelly.  "Only the superior people can rule, and we are they.  It is our time to rule."

"I think she picked up a copy of Annie Perrault for Dummies," Aly said lamely.

"You know her?" Amy asked Aly.

"Yeah.  Stay away from her.  She's evil," Aly stated.  "She almost got together with one of the Andys and created a master race."

One of the Andys blushed.  "A master race?" Fourteen asked.  "This is really starting to sound like that World War II movie I saw in school."

"Sebastien is a Nazi," Aly said.  "So is Annie."

"Oh Lord.  First I'm a clone, then Dad's a robot, next Mom's a clone, and now Dad's a Nazi too?  I am not believe this, I am just not believing this," Amy said.  "I am going to wake up, and you all are not going to exist."

"Don't push your luck, Fifteen," Sixteen said.  "We're trapped here, and the organization will win.  We are going to fight the other Amys and Andys, and we will steal them from the new leaders.  Then, we can rule the world."

"No, we won't.  No you won't," Aly said.

At that moment, Amy was very confused, and she had no idea who to believe.