#2 Day 0
AWAKENING SEQUENCE BEGINNING
That was the first thing the blonde, naked woman heard before slowly opening her eyes. Before her, she could make out she was in a dark lab with computers, test vials and refrigerators lined with various chemicals. While peering out, she realized she herself was in a massive pod filled with yellow amnionic fluid and had wires attached along her spine. Anyone else would undoubtedly find this condition horrifying and panic-inducing; in the unnamed woman's case however, she had been prepped in advanced by the wires that fed information to her brain.
During her short creation period, her neural network had been modeled after her creator's, giving her advanced knowledge of everything biotech related without ever having studying it. The unnamed woman could feel herself frowning, as if there was something in her mind demanding her attention; memories perhaps, that flitted through her mind of another woman working by herself in a lab like this. A moment later, another announcement was heard from the outside.
DRAINING AND STERILZATION IN PROCESS
The cloned woman could feel the liquid moving around her and pulling her down as it drained. Once the liquid was below her mouth, she started to cough profusely as she felt her lungs purging the remaining fluid. Her torso ached and her sinuses burned as she experienced her first breath of air. Twenty seconds later, she stood dripping with slick goo as one by one the wires connected to her spine detached, causing a pinching sensation when they did. After the wires retracted out of the tank, warm water sprinkled out of the top; this sensation was much more pleasant to the blonde woman as she worked to remove all traces of slime from her body and hair.
A few minutes later, the shower stopped and the capsule opened up, creating a loud hissing sound as the front end receded below the platform. With the slightest hesitancy, the still naked woman took her first shaky steps onto the cold metal before her. To her left, she spied a table with towels, undergarments and a red dress. She managed to dry off rather quickly, but when she went to grab the clothes, there was a blinking yellow light under them. She finished getting dressed and then pushed the button, causing a monitor to rise out of the table. The screen then flickered on and revealed another blonde woman, struggling to stand and in pain. The clone's mind drew up the name "Liv Amara," even though she had never actually heard that name before.
"Hello, I am Liv Amara," the woman said with shaky breath. "If all went as planned, this message should be reaching you two weeks after I put myself in stasis." Suddenly, lights clicked on overhead, leading a path 50ft in front of the freshly dressed woman; at the end of the lights, another capsule stood silently waiting. Inside, there was Liv Amara in a white jumpsuit, looking peacefully asleep as her body was bathed in yellow green light. Her clone then turned her attention back to the recording.
"You should already have this information stored inside your mind, but I made this video to be sure," Liv continued. "I made a mistake a few weeks ago when I created these organisms called 'parasynths' to help protect the human body from within; however, they have in fact done the opposite and started attacking everything else instead," she confessed. The dying woman then steeled her nerves as she stared into the camera. "Treatment so far has failed and I have very little time to spare, so that is why I made…" This caused the other blonde woman to take another step closer to the monitor.
"I made… you because I need you to save me. There is still so much life I know I am meant to live and so much more I can do to help this world. I believe that you will succeed," Liv elaborated with a weak smile. "All my research and resources are at your disposal for finding a cure." She then paused, almost looking guilty when she said, "The last thing I will leave you with is this: I want you to have the freedom to choose your own name. You may be my clone with my knowledge, looks and skills, but you are still a living being that I'm giving a monumental task to; the least I can do for you is let you have your own identity and life when this is over." Liv then grabbed her chest and winced in pain. She looked at the camera one last time and on the verge of tears pleaded, "Please. Please save me," before the screen went dark.
The red clad woman drew her first breath in what felt like minutes, letting the enormity of the task wash over her. She then steadied herself as she began her brief walk to where Liv Amara now rested. The sleeping woman at least seemed at peace and free of pain, despite the readings on the outside monitor providing a different story. Her clone placed a hand on the stasis chamber, feeling an innate sense of connection between Liv.
"If this was what I was made for, then succeed I shall. I swear, I will do everything in my power to bring you back Liv, no matter the cost or risk. Failure is not an option," she told her twin with complete conviction.
With what she believed to be her sole purpose established, the unnamed clone then turned to face the advanced lab behind her, contemplating only for a moment. "Let's get to work…Diane."
NOTES
Sorry this one is so short, but I didn't think there was much I could add that wouldn't have resulted in basically a second story. One of the things that I loved about the whole Liv/Diane Amara clone plot is the fact that here are two women who by all accounts, are genetically the same person; in this case however, they are two wildly different people as it seems Liv actually cares about others and wants to make the world a better place while Diane only uses people to accomplish her goal; it really added to the whole nature vs. nurture debate. (Plus, who knows what other horrible stuff she's done in the name of bringing Liv Amara back that we didn't get to see O_O). I can understand where it would be jarring/give you a certain mindset if your first moments of existence involved immediately being tasked with saving someone's life, but the fact that Diane had no morals at all was still just jaw dropping. (There is another, much longer story with Diane Amara in the future, so you'll just have to be patient if you want more ;) ). The next story will show what Mini-Max does when he's home alone.