An Amusing Interlude: Part 17: Clone – In which ethics are tested and more fighting ensues.
By
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown

Hunter X Hunter is copyright Yoshihiro Togashi. Quoll and Kurapika aren't mine more's the pity.

-

QUOLL:

"WHAT?"

Kurapika and I stare at each other. Continue, more quietly. "Clone them? You want to CLONE them?" Our voices are in near perfect unison. "How dare you?" "What a stupendously stupid idea."

Again the two of us blink at each other. I'm not surprised by the fact that we agree on the matter, though Kurapika is. It's the way our tones match, the anger we both feel, that startles. Some of mine is courtesy of the memories residing in the back of my mind, but much of it is my own. I am not a man of morals, but I have my own ethics. The dead should at least have the right to stay dead, and I say as much. Even as Kurapika says much the same, though not in exactly the same words. "The whole idea dishonors their souls. They should be allowed to rest."

The woman just stares at us a moment before saying, "Souls? I'm a scientist, young man. Humans are just a collection of meat and memory. Without the latter, any clones we might have made would simply have been kin to you. Nothing more." She eyes Kurapika. "You, of all people, should be pleased. It means that your clan could live again." She falters under the weight of our combined glares.

The noise Feitan makes behind his mask is a strangled laugh that quickly silences as the two of us glare at him in turn. Still, I can see the humor of the situation, can see him quiver with suppressed emotion. "You two." He shakes his head, returns to the matter at hand. "Quoll, do we really have time for this?" He glances back the way we came. Nothing coming, yet, but there will be. "The discussion is fascinating, gentlemen, but ill-timed. Considering we're likely to have a ton of ants landing on our heads any minute now."

"True," I agree. "Kurapika, we can consider the ethical considerations of the matter later." I gesture at Feitan to keep moving. "It isn't going to happen, now, anyway."

The woman nods, rather to my surprise. "The project has been cancelled." As we continue walking, she explains, "Doctor Marus decided on another course entirely. I can't say that I agreed with his plans."

The sudden attack of a small group of Chimera Ants interrupts her.

-

KURAPIKA:

As I throttle an ant to unconsciousness my mind is on other things. The idea that these people planned to clone my clan is horrific, the more so because it has put a thought in my mind that I ought not to allow myself. A thought that is seductive in its temptation. I don't believe the woman is right about humans being just a collection of meat and memory, but if she was

"Kurapika! Pay attention!" Quoll's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. Forces me to stop chasing after my own tail to pound on the ant that had nearly ripped my head off. This one's the weirdest I've seen yet. Aardvark and rabbit and Giraffe? Yeesh. A movement behind me nearly causes me to strike out blindly, but training takes over and that part of me recognizes my ally. Quoll, back to back with me, book out in one hand, the energies of stolen Nen flaring from the other. Guarding my back.

With a nod, I flick my chains, set them swirling. "I'll immobilize them as much as possible," I tell him. "Got enough?"

"Go for it. Feitan. UP!"

No questions from the little Ryodan. They fight, argue, constantly challenge each other and contend for top place but when the chips are down, they pay attention to the important things. He leaps, dragging his prisoner with him in an impressive display of speed and strength. Immediately I send my chains lashing out, tangling them up in the limbs and bodies of the remaining ants.

Electricity causes the hairs on the back of my neck to rise as it swirls past me in a crackling ball of plasma. Before it strikes them I quickly release my chains. They are part of my mind, not true metal, but it doesn't matter. I could still be injured. The ants start to run, but too late. The energy envelops him and there's a sudden sharp sound of lightning.

When my eyes clear from the dazzle I see that our enemies are down, twitching, more than slightly charred in places. Behind me, Quoll's body sags, and I realize how close to exhausted he is. He says nothing, though, simply sighs, straightens and looks around for Feitan. "We have to get moving. Before more of those find us."

-

QUOLL:

The fight has taken more out of me than I like to admit. Well, gee. I've been kidnapped, hung from my wrists, using my Nen to escape and fighting nearly non-stop for the last twenty or so hours. I suppose I have a good reason to be exhausted. I've never had to push my abilities so long or so hard. I need a rest and I'm not going to get one. Shoulda snagged Arrissen's bag of candy.

It has to be the exhaustion that causes my thoughts to wander in circles around what our captive has told us. I've read too many stories that tell me that it's a serious mistake to try and do a side-step around death. Never minding ethics or moralities, the results are almost invariably not what the would-be creator expected. Despite that, my mind keeps chasing its own tail, fascinated by the idea. I could get rid of them. Make them go away entirely. Somewhere in the depths, there are howls, an argument no more resolvable for my stolen memories than it is for myself. Some would agree, otherssaid, we're here!" Feitan snaps his fingers in front of my face. "This is not the time to contemplate your navel." His dark eyes glare up at me, impatiently and I smile at him, impenitent. "Ahhh. There's no talking to you."

Kurapika looks at me with a worried expression and I quirk a smile at him. Then I turn to the door and examine the keypad. "Well, looks like we had a good reason to keep her alive after all," I note, gesturing at Feitan to drag the captive my way. "Open it." Rather surprisingly, she simply nods and begins typing. There is a whoosh a moment later and the door slides open.

The room beyond is as dimly lit as the corridor. Glass and steel reflect the red light. A soft hum fills the room and the air is cool and dry, the scent of antiseptic faint and oh so very familiar. I have to force myself to step through.

Our captive – I really need to find out her name – does something on an inside panel and the door slides shut. For a moment the darkness is near absolute, then lights flicker above us. "Sorry. I didn't want them to be seen from outside," she says quietly as we blink at her.

It's Kurapika who expresses our mutual suspicions. "You're being awfully helpful." At her shrug, he steps closer and looks directly into her eyes. "Why?"

Silence for a long moment. At last she says, "It's one thing to seek the improvement of the human race. Quite another to try and supplant it. The chimera ants breed too fast. Too well." She looks at me. "You are an ill-fated mix of genetics, but you are still human. Your morality is questionable, but you would not seek to destroy everything on the planet to make your own kind dominant."

I spread my hands in a broad shrug. "Hey. I'm just a thief." She rolls her eyes at me. Behind her, the sound Kurapika makes is half-way between a snort of disgust and a bark of laughter. "In any case, I presume you were headed this way for a similar reason to ours?"

"She almost had to be coming to destroy them, though," Kurapika notes. "She's alone, and there are a lot" he is turning, waving at the ranks of jars with his people's eyes, only to stop as he spots something else. Something that makes both of us halt and freeze entirely.

Children.

-

KURAPIKA:

They lay in small beds, wrapped in green blankets. Five toddlers, blonde, brunette A red-head, sucking her thumb one a near twin for my little brother, or a baby Quoll. I move, stare hungrily through the glass into the room beyond, barely aware of Quoll doing the same. "Oh my God," I whisper.

Behind us, the scientist coughs. "They're three. Not yet old enough to begin training. They laugh, they cry" She moves closer, points at the red-head. "That one abuses her hair color. They. Are. People." Her voice hardens. "And I will not sacrifice them to feed that idiot's ant colony." As I glance her way I see barely controlled emotion in her eyes. Protectiveness. Rage. Never get between a mother and her children. I wouldn't have expected it from her. Yet again I find myself in sympathy with someone whom I ought to hate.

"How did you plan on getting them out?" Quoll's voice is cool, detached, but there's an undertone of tension. He feels it too. That need to guard those of our blood. Perhaps his guilt influences that need, perhaps it's just a natural part of him – as it is with me. It doesn't matter. We have to get them out. "I don't deal much with children," he adds, "But I suspect that herding my Ryodan is – marginally – easier than escaping with five toddlers."

"Hey!" Feitan protests and Quoll shoots him a quick grin. "Well okay, I guess we're better than a buncha babies." He settles on a chair. "Anyway, you guys better think up a way out quick, 'cuz we have about an hour to get our collective hind ends out of here before Nobunaga follows your orders."

Our unexpected ally moves to a console, glances at us questioningly and Quoll nods. She presses a few buttons. "Unit 8L. This is Doctor Adams. Has transport been prepared?"

"Affirmative, Doctor Adams." The voice over the speaker is metallic. One of those androids again, I realize. "I have assigned Units 99L and 34L to the task of assisting you. They should be arriving soon, according to my sensors."

"Good. We'll be there soon. With companions. Be ready. The base is going to be under attack within the hour." She signs off, turns to us. "Do what you have to do with the eyes," she tells us. "I was going to destroy them, but since you appear to have other plans, I'll leave them to you. We'll wake the children afterwards. No need to disturb them before it's time to go."

Quoll is already moving. The blanket he uses to shrink things is out and he's headed for the bottles. "Quickly," he tells Feitan and me. "Get them in. I'm just about out of energy." He didn't really need to tell me that. I can see it in the way he's moving, the thin edge of exhaustion that causes his hand holding the book to tremble.

We start moving.

-

QUOLL:

As the last bottle shrinks and Kurapika stores it in a bag, I sit down, heavily, on the floor. "Damn. That's it." It's a fine time for me to be out of nen, halfway through our escape, but that's the way it goes. Leaning against the wall, I eye my companions, see worry in both their eyes, and grin. "I'll be able to fight, just not with nen," I reassure them. "I'll be fine. Kurapika, will you handle defense while Feitan handles offense?"

"Oh? You bother asking instead of telling? Now I know something's wrong with you," Kurapika answers, as he pulls the bag strap over his head.

"Bite me."

"I'd rather smack you upside the head."

"The two of you stop behaving like little boys. This is serious business." Doctor Adams glares at us, then at Feitan, who is laughing softly in a corner. "Honestly. Men."

I pull myself to my feet. "Right. Enough fun. Let's get the kids and get out of here." As she opens the door to the nursery, I move to join her and Kurapika. Feitan remains where he is, guarding the door, as the three of us enter.

The first one Kurapika goes to is the little black-haired boy. It's not a surprise, the child is near twin to the one my stolen memories tell me was his little brother, Jurik. I am surprised, though, that the thought doesn't send me quite so close to the edge as it has before. Whether it's because Kurapika is a stabilizing influence or because I'm beginning to find my way through the mine-field at long last, I don't know. What I do know is that it's something of a relief.

As Doctor Adams wakes the red-head I bend over another, this one the pale haired blonde. Sleepy black eyes open to meet mine, blinking at me curiously. "Who you, Mithter?"

"My name is Quoll," I tell her, kneeling beside her cot and tugging her, gently, out of bed. I'm not sure how to handle the situation. Explanations would take too long. I can only hope that she cooperates. Then her eyes meet mine and I feel the shock of what lies behind them. They're like mine. "Kurapika? This one will need special care."

He glances my way, sees what I mean. "She's three. I think we'll have time to get her to the Kal before it makes her life miserable." At Doctor Adams' confused murmur, he glances her way. "Quoll's Eyes need special training, Doctor. From what I've been told, you're lucky the Opal Eyes didn't eat all of you alive." He stands, the child in his arms cuddling close, pressing his head up against his shoulder. "This isn't the time to discuss it, though. Come on."

-

KURAPIKA:

The doorway to the hall opens as I'm waking another child, allowing two of the automatons to enter. They barely glance at Feitan where he stands to the side, simply passing through the lab and into the nursery to stand before Doctor Adams.

"Each of you, take two of the children. Our companions will assist in case we are attacked." At my expression, she adds, "Kurota, the automatons are not built for battle. The best they can do is emit a signal to interfere with the thought processes of one subject." I can't help but frown at her wording and she seems to realize why. "I am a scientist, young man. Do not expect me to behave differently."

I sigh. I'm inclined to be angry with her anyway and this simply isn't the time. Instead I carefully transfer my burden over to the automaton nearest me, then hand it another. It is, I am relieved to note, as gentle with the two it holds as I would be.

By the time I'm done, Quoll has given the other automaton two more children. Doctor Adams is still holding the red-head, one hand patting the fussy child gently. It really isn't fair for her to be this way, to make it so hard for me to hate her entirely. Fate is against me, though, forcing me to see as human the people I'd rather think of as two dimensional enemies. Quoll, Adams Feitan. And who, Kurapika, ever said life was supposed to be fair. Or two dimensional, for that matter?

Our little troupe makes its way out, moving slowly and as quietly as possible so as not to wake the babies. Every so often we come upon a squad of ants, but even with Quoll's nen exhausted, we are able to take them down. At last we reach our destination, an underground garage, filled with heavy trucks and machinery. More automatons are loading equipment into one truck and Doctor Adams leads us rapidly across to them.

"Greetings, Doctor. All is in readiness." The automaton 8L turns to face us. "Is there anything else you will be requiring?"

She shakes her head. "No, I" Her words are interrupted by Quoll making a sharp, bitter, sound. The sound of a man who has had an expectation fulfilled. As I turn to look in the direction he's watching, I see why. The exit is blocked. Hundreds of chimera, all laying in wait for us. At their lead is someone with the face of a beautiful human woman.

And the body of a monstrous centipede.

To Be Continued.