-From Meridian's Journal
We had decided on radical means because we needed warriors. Not just trained soldiers but proven and capable individuals that could be molded to fight for our cause. Unlike the Clans or the Great Houses we did not have the adequate time nor did we have the resources to train and test large batches of them; what we needed were a small but lethal cadre of killers that could stand up to the best that our enemies had to offer.
Like the Clans we had also experimented by splicing genes from our bloodlines in order to graft the best physiological characteristics onto our splicers. It was interesting to note that strange behavioral patterns began to arise within the respective bloodlines and it gave each one a distinct character that was based on the original host. The Amaris bloodlines were charismatic negotiators and wily tacticians but they also had a bent for personal greed and power while the inherent loyalty and strong work ethic of the Von Strang lines were offset by an inborn viciousness that bordered on sadism. Needless to say, the best combinations of splicers were the ones that were a blend of our bloodlines and that of the Clans. To that end, our newest batch of splicers contained fusions of Kerensky, Pryde, Cameron, McKenna and others that were mixed in along with our inherent lines to create several regiments' worth of extremely lethal soldiers. If it gave us the advantage, then we took it; it was as simple as that.
Our achievements even extended towards the genetic modification of animals. The diamond shark, the beast that affected a great change among the Clans was but a variant of the Aquasaurid, a shark-like marine predator native to the seas of Apollo that once served as the emblem of our military. It was we that leaked the DNA strands of this unrivaled monster to the Clan chatterwebs that so enabled their scientist caste to create lesser creatures of their own.
But still we needed more. To that end, our scientists created a series of experiments based on cloning. The concept had never been put to this type of use before due to moral and ethical reasons but our philosophy was simple and direct; if you could create perfect copies of the greatest warriors in history then why not do it? If these clones could be somehow conditioned to become unquestionably loyal to our cause, should we not deploy them in large numbers to do battle with our adversaries?
The concept of being able to create a complete copy of a human being from just his or her DNA offered great opportunities for us. From a single sample of dead tissue, one could recreate heart, lungs, muscles and even brain cells and combine all of these into a duplicate of the original host. That we could also genetically modify the original physiological characteristics by the use of mutagens and gene therapy in order to make them stronger and faster in order to prevent genetic degradation as well as to keep them abreast of the splicers' continuing evolution only added to our optimism. But there was a great obstacle that befell us; we also needed to have the exact mental characteristics of the host in order for us to condition the replicants to the same level of expertise that their original incarnations once attained.
To that end we conceived of memory and sensory implants that could somehow trigger prior recollections within the cloned cells. After all, since the clones were replicated from a single cell that went on to create the brain of the clone as well, would there be some sort of mental residue within the newly replicated cells that could trigger such a physiological sensation? The answer was quite surprising.
In the late twentieth century, research on brain surgery had proven that memory stays there forever. The billions of separate items of input over a lifetime are all there awaiting retrieval. Like a computer, the human brain can store all memories for life; they can be over-ridden or modified but never erased. When brain cells were stimulated with an electrode, patients reported the sensation of remembering scenes from the past. The recall was so vivid that all the details were present, including sounds, colors, and odors. They were not just recalling the experiences; they were reliving them. Scientists have concluded that the human nervous system cannot tell the difference between an actual occurrence and an experience imagined vividly, emotionally, and in detail. It was the confirmation of the old saying that the mind controls reality; if you believe in something fervently enough, your mind would create the illusion in actuality.
Our own clones began to experience brief reminisces of their past lives from a variety of factors. Some of the subjects reportedly became entranced by the sight of a specific acquaintance that they had once knew in their prior incarnation while others remembered brief instances of their past lives upon sensory contact with an object, a sensation in the weather or even chancing upon a familiar place. We had carefully catalogued these sensory triggers with each clone that we had created. The resulting fruits of our research bore a strange symmetry for each replicant that came from the same host had reported the exact same mental experience. Our scientists called this phenomenon the Doppelganger Effect.
There were a variety of ways to safeguard the clones in case of an accidental evocation of the Effect; to that end we had implanted selective memory blocks that would purposely hide a number of instances from the subjects in order to lessen the overriding effects of the phenomenon. These safeguards were extremely important for when we first began memory implants on our replicants without the memory blocks, a high percentage of them ultimately became psychotic and were consequently disposed of due to their incompatibility.
The remaining question was that whether the Doppelganger Effect would be a hindrance to the use of clones as warriors for our cause remained to be seen; though I suspected that our great leader would put that theory to the test in a very short time.