The girls were getting impatient when Dr. Parker returned to the conference room. They were seated on one of the couches and chatting idly about the day's events.
"What took you so long?" asked Sam.
"Sorry, had some trouble with the multimedia."
"Multimedia?"
"Yeah. We've got a lot to cover, so let's get started, shall we?" He dimmed the lights and turned on the projector. The girls fidgeted in their seat and made themselves comfortable.
"So," said Sam, "where does this all begin?"
"At the beginning, of course!"
The girls groaned.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." He cleared his throat and took a breath. "Well, how do I begin?" He paused a moment to collect his thoughts. "This all started after you three apprehended Macker and his army of clones. At the time, I was an assistant to Dr. Morris Beckham, then the head of WOOHP's genetic research department. Since we had to keep the clones under wraps, they had to be brought here." He queued up the first slide, which showed the clones being unloaded from trucks and being led into cells.
"Dr. Beckham decided they should be examined before we commenced more thorough analysis. Jerry agreed with him and a temporary housing facility was built downstairs near the lab for the clones."
"It's against WOOHP policy to terminate living subjects, am I right?" said Sam.
"Correct. We wanted to examine the clones for genetic or physical defects, but we had to keep it all top-secret. Human cloning is still highly taboo and pretty much forbidden. To even suggest that WOOHP might try to reverse-engineer Macker's process would be bad PR, to say the least."
"So the clones never left WOOHP?" asked Alex.
"No. They were kept under heavy security the whole time. We discovered they were still under the influence of Macker's mind-control implants. We made it our first order of business to remove or at least disable the implants."
"Why?" asked
Clover. "Wouldn't they be easy to control with them?"
"You'd
think so, but no. They were still acting under Macker's final
orders, and were a handful to control. The implants were inhibiting
their thought processes, thus making individual thought processes
difficult for them."
"So they couldn't think for themselves," said Sam.
"Exactly. Anyway, we examined each and every clone. We did thorough checkups on each one, and they all came through with a clean bill of health. As far as we could tell, they were perfect replicas of you three." He flipped through a few slides showing the clones going through a variety of tests. Some were running on treadmills, and others were in examination rooms before doctors and nurses. "When Dr. Beckham was satisfied with the tests, we turned to the mind-control implants."
"I have a question," said Clover. "Why would you want to liberate a bunch of our clones? Wouldn't it be a little awkward to have a hundred Clovers running around?"
Dr. Parker adjusted his glasses. "It was ruled that since the clones were not acting of their own will, they were not responsible for their actions, and thus could only be held for a limited time. In other words, we couldn't keep them locked up, so we had to find a way to integrate them into society in a useful way. The first step would be eliminating the implants."
"How would you do that?" asked Alex.
"We were working on that, and fast. A LOT of other people had their own ideas on what to do with the clones."
"What kind of people?"
"Powerful people, to say the least. We were making headway into removing the implants, but that's when things started going wrong."
"They started mutating, didn't they?" said Sam.
"Yes. But not all of them. About half the clones began experiencing mutations. At first mutations were pretty mild, but soon it just went out of control. The clones began mutating rapidly, faster than anything we'd ever seen. The mutations also became unpredictable. Some of them started experiencing physiological mutations, others saw morphological mutations, and some saw both." He started flipping through more slides of the clones. They showed the clones with an assortment of physical deformations beginning to manifest themselves. Arms and hands that were longer than normal, facial deformities, hunchbacks, and skin disorders caused the girls' stomachs to turn. The effect was made worse by the fact that these were once mirror images of themselves.
"This…this is horrible," said Sam.
Dr. Parker sighed. "It gets worse. Most of the mutations weren't as drastic as the ones you just saw. Usually the mutations were internal, but these began turning fatal. Mutations affecting the circulatory, nervous, muscular, and respiratory systems began manifesting in fatal forms. The clones were dying on us, and we had no clue why." He showed them another slide. This one showed one of Alex's clones lying on a bed and surrounded by medical staff. The clone was clutching and oxygen mask to her face and gasping for air while the staff held her down. Her eyes were wide open with confusion. The girls couldn't help but tear up as the next slide showed the same clone being zipped up in a body bag.
"We were at our wit's
end. Our mission was to preserve the lives of the clones, but we
couldn't stop them from dying. Dr. Beckham ordered us back into the
labs and we began probing their genes in earnest as we searched for a
cure."
Sam wiped the tears from her eyes. "Did you find
anything?"
"Yes, and this is where it really starts getting spooky." He changed the slide to a complex-looking chart. "As we probed deeper into their genes, we discovered that the clones were not exact replicas."
"Huh?" said the girls.
"I thought you said they were exact duplicates?" said Alex.
"Physically, yes. Genetically, no. It turns out that Macker was missing a lot of genetic data from the samples he used to create the clones. It was hair samples, right?"
"Right."
"Well, Macker was
missing a lot of important data from the genetic sequences. So he
ad-libbed what he didn't have based on other data to complete the
genetic codes."
Sam crossed her arms. "So the ad-libbed data
caused them to mutate?"
"Not quite. Like I said, only half the clones were mutating. The other half was just fine, if unruly. What we discovered was that the mutating clones had been exposed to some kind of radical gene therapy technique that's unknown to us at present. This is what caused the clones to mutate."
Sam crossed her arms. "So Macker was using the clones as guinea pigs. But why?"
"That explains his
reaction to the picture we showed him," said Clover.
"At the
time, we didn't know why," said Parker. "But Macker didn't do
it."
"And if Macker didn't do it, then who?"
"When we analyzed Macker's research notes," continued Parker, "we found evidence of an outside party influencing the experiments. Whoever they were, they showed up like ghosts in his logbook. There's no real evidence of their existence, but it is clear that someone played a part in the experiments. We came to believe that this person or persons are responsible for subjecting the clones to the gene therapy treatments."
"But why?" said Clover. "Why would anyone want to…mangle perfectly good humans, especially clones of us?"
"We wondered that ourselves, and then we found out just why. Amid the chaos of the uncontrolled mutations and deaths, we noticed particular strains of mutations occurring. Two of these were far superior to the others, and became the focus of our research." The next slide showed two very familiar faces: A Clover duplicate standing next to one of the monsters, except its features were softer and it wasn't quite as big.
"We've met," said Alex.
"I know. Now let's get to know them, shall we?" He changed the display. It focused on the monster, with tables of information appearing next to it.
"We came to call these mutants the Nemesis strain. They saw the most drastic morphological changes of all the clones; massive changes in skeletal structure, vastly increased strength, and they developed a very resilient skin. In addition, these clones became extremely violent. They frequently lashed out at the caretakers and sparred with each other all the time. Just simply holding them became a burden due to their physical capabilities. Communicating with them became difficult because their speech patterns broke down into a complex system of guttural noises."
He changed the display to focus on the Clover duplicate.
"We named these clones the Athena strain. Outwardly, they didn't change at all. On the inside, they were completely different. They developed great strength like the Nemesis strains, but their intelligence also increased."
"How many of each did you find?" asked Sam.
"Around forty Nemesis, and six Athena."
"Sounds like you had your hands full."
"Yeah, no kidding. But the Athena clones had another twist to their physiology. They constantly emit potent pheromones, which we found out the hard way."
"Instead of controlling them, they could control you!" said Alex.
"That's putting it mildly. Between the pheromones and their feminine charms, men were like putty in their hands. I discovered this one day when I was working and suddenly realized I was about to help them escape."
"Feminine charms?"
"I hate saying this about a bunch of kids, but the Athena strains were, well, seductive. It was so bad the men couldn't work with them at all."
"So what did you do?"
"All the men were forced to work by proxy. The pheromones didn't affect women, so they had to be our hands."
Clover connected the dots. "Which means we have to beat them, is that it?"
Parker nodded. "We're all counting on you guys."
Sam studied the charts for a moment. "It says here that the Athena clones were the leaders of the other clones. You mind explaining that?"
"Gladly." The slide changed to a type of tree chart. "After a while, we observed a sort of hierarchy or community evolve within the clones. The common characteristic was that all the clones treated the Athena strains with great respect and followed their orders. After them came the non-mutating clones, who mostly took care of the mutating clones. The Nemesis clones acted as a sort of warrior caste, and they became very protective of the other clones, especially the Athena clones. To compensate for their lack of speech, they developed some kind of psychic bond with the Athena clones to communicate with them. Since they had access to the Athena strain's higher intelligence, they became highly organized."
Sam was amazed at what she was hearing. "How did Macker do all this?"
Dr. Parker sighed. "Like I said, it was an outside job. The level of genetic engineering used on the clones is still way out of our league. Dr. Beckham is a certifiable genius in the field, but even he was flabbergasted by what we were finding. This stuff goes beyond normal genetics and straight into the realm of super science."
He paused to drink some water and the girls put their heads together.
"This is way freaky," said Clover.
"Those poor clones," said Alex. "I know they're just duplicates, but they're still human, right?"
"I agree with Clover," said Sam. "This is way freaky." She turned to Dr. Parker. "You said you don't know who worked on the clones with Macker?"
"Nope. We can guess that he or she was the one who introduced the gene therapy to the clones, but anything beyond that is pure speculation."
"Then we need to find out who that person is. If he can pull something like this off, he could be real trouble."
"I agree, but we have no clue who he is. All we can do now is try to apprehend the clones."
"So why are the clones in that room?" asked Alex.
"It was the only way we could save them." He started a video. "You might want to see this."
The projector displayed a conference room full of important-looking people, Jerry among them.
"I wish I had some popcorn," whispered Alex.
Sam shushed her and turned her attention to the movie.
The people in the room were talking hurriedly with one another, except for Jerry, who sat silently, apparently waiting for something. Eventually, an old man in a lab coat entered the room and the other occupants stopped their own conversations and turned their attention on the newcomer. When he took his place at the head of the table, Jerry stood up.
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce Dr. Morris Beckham, head of WOOHP's genetic research department." He turned to Dr. Beckham and said, "Anytime you're ready," and sat down.
"Thank you Jerry, and thank you all for being here," said Dr. Beckham. He rubbed his eyes and the girls noticed how tired he looked. What was left of his hair was unkempt, and he looked as if he had little sleep for some time.
"Now, how shall we begin?"
One of the people at the other end of the table spoke. "First off, do you mind explaining in brief the reports we've read about the clones' mutations?"
"Very well." Beckham sorted through some papers. "As you all know, I was assigned to study Macker's clones and figure out how he managed to mass-produce an army so quickly, given that the known scientific community has yet to successfully clone a human being. However, during the process of my investigations, the clones began rapidly mutating. We later discovered that an unknown party had intervened in Macker's experiments and exposed many of the clones to radical gene therapy techniques we have yet to decipher. As a result, many clones began experiencing varying degrees of mutations, some fatal."
"Do you have any idea who this interloper could be?" asked a man in a uniform.
"No. He's only mentioned once in Macker's notes, and no names are given. It seems Macker had a healthy degree of respect for this person."
"What of these deaths we've been hearing about?" asked another man.
"As I said, some of the mutations have turned fatal. Complications in vital systems are killing off many clones even as we speak. Five have died just today. Many more have been horrifically disfigured from their mutations."
"Have all the mutations been detrimental?"
"No, not all. We've observed some clones with increased strength, improved immune systems, heightened perception, and magnified intelligence. But only in a few have we seen all at once, and I suppose those are the ones you're most interested in, if I'm not mistaken."
"Do indulge us, Dr. Beckham."
Beckham sighed. "Very well." He shuffled some more papers and took a deep breath. "The two strains which you've all been informed about posses the most superior traits of all the clones. The Nemesis strain is built for combat, with massive strength and speed, as well as sharper senses and thick epidermis. The Athena strain is built more for leadership. They, too posses increased strength, but not to the degree of their 'sisters.'"
"Sisters?" interrupted a woman.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot to mention that the clones began referring to one another as 'sisters.' This has resulted in a strong familial bond within the community."
"And what effects has this bond had on their behavior?" asked a man in a suit.
"For one, it's made them highly protective of one another, particularly among the Nemesis strain. One of my assistants was almost killed when he accidentally tripped one of the clones in view of a Nemesis. She would have ripped him to pieces were it not for the guards."
"Second, the dying clones have had deleterious effects on their morale. The intimacy they have with one another causes them great sorrow when one dies."
"This is really boring," whispered Alex.
"Yeah, no kidding," whispered Clover.
"Shhh!" said Sam.
"Have you made any progress in preventing the clones from dying?" asked one man.
"No. They're mutating far too rapidly. I have yet to see any means to stop the mutations."
"So what do you intend to do about it? Have you even brought the non-mutating clones under control?"
"We can't."
"Why not?" The other people at the table were losing patience. They didn't like the way the meeting was going.
"As I mentioned in my earlier report, the clones have developed a psychic bond with the Athena strain. It's more pronounced with the Nemesis clones, but with the non-mutants it's enough to override the mind-control implants. Essentially, the Athenas are controlling the clones now. As you can imagine, this is becoming a problem. The number of escape attempts are escalating, and it's only a matter of time before they succeed."
"So what would you suggest, Doctor?" asked a grave-looking British man.
"It is my professional observation that, in order to keep the dominant clones under control, and to preserve the lives of the mutating clones, that all the clones be placed in a state of suspended animation and stored here at WOOHP either indefinitely or until a cure can be found for them."
The conference room erupted. The other members began arguing heatedly with Beckham as well as with each other. Jerry sat calmly as ever amid the tumult.
Alex turned around and looked at Dr. Parker. "I don't understand. What are they so mad about?"
"You'll see. There's a lot of interests represented in that room, and they don't exactly get along, either."
Alex turned back to the video as Jerry stood up and silenced the room. "Now listen here. We came to discuss the future of the clones, and we are going to do so in a calm, civilized manner. Any more arguing like this and I shall have you all removed from this building."
The other attendees calmed down, but they still looked discontented. A woman stood up and spoke clearly and directly.
"Jerry, we all know what we're looking at. These clones represent a gigantic leap forward in genetics. We could be looking at data that would advance medical technology by decades. I'm well aware of the potential military interests I know are represented here, but the fact remains that Dr. Beckham wishes to simply halt his research and lock the clones up, and I think I speak for all of us when I say I find that a hard pill to swallow."
The others nodded and mumbled agreement, then looked to Jerry expectantly.
Instead, Dr. Beckham spoke. "I expected you wouldn't be too happy with my suggestion, but I don't see any other way. As a doctor, my responsibility is for the well being of the clones. You may think of them as freaks, but I tell you they are thinking, feeling humans just like the rest of you. The clones are dying, and I cannot permit the loss of life if I have the means to prevent it."
"And what about the non-mutants, or the dominant strains?" asked the woman.
"As I've said before, they're very organized, and their escape attempts are getting better all the time. As per the agreement with the army, we have run them through simulations, and they performed frighteningly well. Should they escape, a powerful new force will be loosed upon the world, and I know none of you want that. These too must be put to sleep just to contain them."
"Are you certain, do you just not know a better solution?"
Beckham sighed heavily. "The mutating clones are dropping like flies. The Nemesis strain is too violent and unpredictable to manage safely. The Athena strain is far too devious to contain for long, and the non-mutants are under their influence. I would love to continue studying them, but for the sake of the dying clones and for the safety of everyone, I see no alternatives. We have the technology; we can build a containment facility to safely store the clones for as long as we want. But we can't do it without the board of trustees' – your – help. Please, at least this way we'll have a chance to study them in the future. If we don't, the girls won't have a future." He leaned against the podium and waited for the board's reaction.
The members talked in hushed tones with one another for a few minutes. Finally, one of them spoke up.
"As much as I dislike this turn of events, I agree that preserving the clones for future study is more important than anything we can learn from them now. You have my support."
Jerry stood up. "Very well. Does anyone wish to second the motion?"
Another member raised her hand and said, "seconded."
"Does anyone object to the decision?"
No one spoke.
"Very well. We shall commence the design and construction of a facility to store the clones in suspended animation until such time as they can be cured. This meeting is adjourned." The video ended and the lights came back up. The girls turned around to find Jerry standing in the doorway.
"Jerry!"
"Hello, girls. I trust Dr. Parker has brought you up to speed on the situation?"
"And how!" said Clover. "I did sorta wonder what happened to all those clones."
"Well now you know, and you know why it's up to you three to stop them."
"Yeah, we heard about the pheromone thing," said Sam. "So how many are we dealing with?"
Dr. Parker straightened his glasses. "Only three Athena escaped, one normal clone that had begun to mutate, and 30 Nemesis are still at large."
"How did so many escape?" asked Alex.
"Mostly by force. Apparently one of the Athena's chambers malfunctioned and she woke up. She was able to free two more and most of the Nemesis clones before we noticed."
Jerry approached the girls. "As you can see, the odds are stacked against you, and we still have no idea where their base of operations is."
"So do we have anything to go on?" asked Sam.
"Yes. We analyzed the equipment that clone you captured was wearing, and we found traces of a highly toxic chemical called Chylopsin on its scimitar and in the cannon it wore. The Nemesis clones are immune to most toxins, so they were able to use it to power their weapons."
"Where would they get it from?" asked Clover.
"There's only one place in the world its manufactured, and it's in Wyoming." Jerry opened his wallet and projected a hologram of a train route. "Several months ago, an anomaly was reported with the company. The train that carries the chemical to a disposal facility was off-schedule by several hours, and missing a large part of its load. However, the incident was hushed up quickly and never heard about again."
"And that's shortly after the clones escaped," said Parker.
"Wait, they've been on the lam for months and you didn't tell us?" said Sam.
"That's what I was just at a meeting about," said Jerry. "A lot of powerful people wanted us to keep quiet about it, so we kept an eye out for any trouble for them. Now that they've finally surfaced, we have no choice but to act. To make matters worse, they're none too happy about how we've handled this situation, so we've got to resolve this matter before things get really ugly."
"Let me guess, some people aren't interested in apprehending the clones?"
"No."
Sam sighed looked at the projection. "So if we watch the trains, we might have a chance at finding the clones."
"I can only hope."
"So what do we do until then?" asked Alex.
"We watch, and we wait."
"Boooriinnng."
Elsewhere…
The metal door slid open with a hiss, and Sam stepped out of the decontamination spray, clad in a containment suit. After the door shut behind her, she unlocked the helmet and removed it. She held the helmet under one arm and let her hair down with her free hand. She ran her fingers through her auburn hair and shook it free, only then noticing Alex sitting on a bench beside her.
"Oh, hey. Didn't see you there."
"You're distracted. Long day?"
"Very." She sat down beside Alex and set the helmet down on the bench.
"Any progress?"
Sam leaned against the wall and slowly shook her head. "No. The medical data gave me a lot of info, but it's still hopeless. Without the original DNA to use as a model, there's no way I can stop the mutations."
Alex sighed. "There's no way they'll cooperate. We both know that. They just want to stick us back in the freezer and pretend we don't exist."
"I know." Despite being three times stronger than a normal human, Sam was exhausted. Her research always led to the same conclusion – there was no cure without the original DNA. "But we have no choice. If they won't give it to us, we'll have to take it."
Alex leaned on her knees. "We'd better do it soon. Clover's still furious about her sister's capture."
"She knew it was coming. She was the odd man out."
"Still, that's one more of our sisters back in the freezer." She looked at Sam. "Clover's out for blood, and I share her sentiment."
The sun came out from behind a cloud and streamed in through a skylight onto the pair. Sam closed her eyes and felt the sun's warmth on her skin. "I'm tired of hiding in the shadows, Alex. I want to live in the sun again."
"Me too. By the way, we're running low on the Chylopsin. We'll need to get some more."
"What of our benefactors? Will they back us up like last time?"
"They said we're on our own this time around."
Sam shrugged. "Fair enough. Prep the ship and tell squads five through eight to get ready. We hit the train ASAP."
Alex stood up and stretched. "Good. I was miffed I didn't get to kill Macker. A train robbery might do me some good."
"Glad to hear it." Sam stood up and picked up the helmet. "They might be watching the train, so don't be surprised if they show up."
Alex grinned. "Even better. Clover's gonna be thrilled."