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It's white, every single inch of the factory is white.
A maze for most of the clones, a maze of white ashen walls and rumbling metallic machinery that echoed ominously above all of them. It breathed, the building breathed with a life that most of its inhabitants seemed to lack. Each sterile wall that had a camera on it, each observation room, alive somehow. Rooms after rooms of sterile floors that contained thousands of experiments.
The factory is divided in three parts for convenience and easy access.
The actual factory, thousands of observation rooms and the escape rooms where the developed clones where tested one after the other. Inside of the actual factory, on the top floor laid a disorganized office where the creator of each clone resided.
A scientist, the only clone created by the original person, was the one in charge of monitoring the actual facility.
The clone was perfect or as perfect as it could be being a clone of a person no one really knew. The first replica that lacked any kind of hybridity inside of it's features. It was cruel and cold yet kept the whole factory running with ease. Each prototype monitored, each new project fixed.
It wasn't obvious the origin of the strange cruelty that this man possessed. Maybe it was due to the fact that there are some aspects of humanity that just couldn't be replicated or maybe the real person was also cruel. It wasn't something that could be determined easily, not a piece of data to be processed. It was a fact that the clone was incapable of feeling anything that wasn't obsession, mania or annoyance.
It seemed happy to continue doing it's job and providing to his creator with more clones for entertainment purposes.
The clone—whose alias is Evilfies because calling him 001 was simply too confusing— was standing in the middle of the room. The sound of machinery surrounded the table where he was now working on the latest repairs while a couple of tools laid discarded to the side. In the middle of the cold metal table was a motionless body. The powered off clone's breathes where shallow and full of water. A pair of dog ears flopping on it's hair while a tail shivered from underneath it's naked legs.
His most imperfect yet perfect clone to this date.
A rebellious one that had been the first to develop actual thoughts and opinions of it's own. It was strangely human or as human as an artificial replica of an actual human could be. It possessed the ability to feel strong emotions, to experience regret, to experience grief and more importantly to experience faith. The first clone to successfully run away from the facility no matter how much pain it experienced outside the white walls.
It returned always with sustainable injuries or hunted eyes and yet it insisted on leaving once more.
It had gotten to a point where the hassle of trying to keep it contained with the other clones just wasn't worth the resources. Not when it will return once more, battered and broken down into a million of little pieces that the scientist will have to pick up.
Evilfies let him, why wouldn't he?
There was no purpose to force the clone to remain inside of the facility. Not when it was providing more entertainment outside of these white walls than it could ever provide inside them. Each hardship, each injury, each obsession, each relationship and now even the start of the development of a faith system was what made the clone so entretaining. And if that meant letting the clone run itself dry until it arrived once more to the fabric doors with broken limbs then it was just a small price to pay for.
Like in this case where it had arrived with enough water damage to require a full assessment.
It had experienced continuous drowning in the search of that god and even with the respawn mechanics it had taken a toll on it's body. Apparently the stress had been enough to actually disconnect the clone from the database for a couple hours until someone had called the emergency number and reported that the clone was unresponsive on a nearby beach. It had been in some sort of trance and soon after fell into a delirious state.
Strange indeed, maybe he could recover some of the feed if he managed to stabilize the clone's camera and back up systems.
Evilfies sighed, more of a breath than a sigh, while his hands reached with expert precision inside of the clone's chest cavity. A small hole that permitted easy access ever since he started creating the clones with a less mechanical parts. It was a regretful decision because it made the cleaning and regeneration process much lengthier than before. His hands pressed around the soft flesh until reaching a small metallic cover.
Flicking the small lid open, he inserted the small machine that would suck the water out of the clone's lungs. It's an ugly process yet a completely necessary one to ensure there's no future issues with the clone's breathing. While the machine was running, Evilfies reached to examine the clone's dog ears to ensure there was no permanent damage from the pressure. They seemed fine which was good. No need to perform any sort of regenerative surgery then.
Oh good, it's condition hadn't been that bad.
Evilfies feared the clone had arrived in a similar situation than the last time it had needed a repair. The amount of surgeries—that he had to organize to try and lessen the damage as much as possible even with the respawn mechanic— had been alarming. It had gotten bad enough that Evilfies actually for a moment considered scrapping it's body for spare parts.
Now, that had been an actual hassle.
The machine made a soft beep, one that indicates the lungs should be free from water, as Evilfies slowly knelt to inspect the damage. Taking the machine off of the chest cavity to exanimate the flesh a little better—Evilfies is able to determinate that the damage will probably heal with a couple of hours inside of the regeneration chamber. Slowly, he moved the clone inside of a nearby tub. His hands mechanically washing the clone's hair and body to ensure it didn't contaminate the liquid inside of the chamber.
The last thing he needed was to clean up sand from the processors. Now that would be an actual nightmare and a very avoidable one too. His eyes flickered to the side for a second, making sure the regeneration chamber was powdered on. The panel showed just the right settings of oxygen and regeneration potions. A faint blue goo that was slowly turning purple from the potions on it.
He's scrubbing near the neck when he feels it. A small leathery necklace with the symbol of the leviathan on the base hanging loosely right where the identification plate was. A hum exited his lips while he continued washing the clone's body with cold precision. Once he deemed the body clean enough, he made sure to drain the metal tub before reaching to grab at the metal plate.
His fingers reached slowly towards the needle on it before pressing on the skin around it lightly until it fell. It was rusted enough to need a change which made the removal process a lot easier. Leaving the clone on the metal bathtub, Evilfies started walking in the direction of the printer. Placing inside a new plate and waiting for the familiar hum of the machine humming under his fingertips.
1108, read the oxidized plate on his hands.
Evilfies discarded that plate to the scrap bin before turning to type a different set of numbers on the metal printer.
5718, a number that could be greatly associated with faith.
A number that the clone had whispered religiously on it's delirious state next to a name, a reminder of a friend only the clone seemed to see.
The new metallic plate shined underneath his fingers while he walked back to the metallic bathtub. The change was easy enough to do, a small cut on the side of the neck to insert the plate underneath the skin and a needle that fits into a small hole to ensure it doesn't fall off with any movement.
He's finishing screwing the soft metallic plate onto the neck once more when he feels it.
A strange feeling appeared in the middle of the air. It started like a soft static that flowed through the entire facility and slowly started building up. It was sharp enough that it made the scientist's eyes water from the sheer force. He could taste the electricity on the air as the process of reality warping itself started. A process that none of his clones had been unlucky enough to undergo it.
The clone made a soft whining from the back of it's throat at the sensation, it's dog ears and dog nose a lot more sensitive to the changes on the environment than Evilfies human ones. Light shines in a kaleidoscopic explosion of color as reality bled from underneath the pressure of orange particles. Trying desperately to accommodate whatever is trying to enter the code of the facility.
Time freezes as the void starts filtering through the reality of the facility, black bleeding into the middle of the sterile room like a parasite.His ears started ringing while he stared with an expression full of annoyance at the spot. Waiting patiently for the pressure to decrease enough to let all of the inhabitants breath. Then finally, a glob of orange— a mix between ink and wax— falling to the floor in a colorful splat.
The scientist's nose twitches in annoyance while he grabbed at a nearby flashlight to examine the clone's ears. These type of events where enough to leave some sort of damage into the delicate eardrums of canine hybrids. It was one of the reasons he couldn't understand why the original creator had insisted on adding those traits to the later line of clones. Aesthetics didn't seem like a good enough reason to add delicate features into the otherwise sturdy body of a clone.
Luckily, it seems that there wasn't any damage that wouldn't be fixed by the regeneration chamber. With that checked out, he decided to first deal with the clone in his arms and then deal with the other incident. Hauling the clone's body out of the tub and opening the lid of the regeneration chamber is easy enough. The gel started rising until the clone was completely submerged, the oxygen mask tied securely against it's nose.
Making sure to keep just the right settings to ensure the clone comes out completely regenerated, he turned around to face the creature that had fallen from that strange portal of the void.
He's met with a familiar orange wax sculpture of a somewhat tall woman. Her features were flawless with just the right amount of detail to pass off as regular wax sculpture for any one else's eyes. It's completely orange lacking any other color with small squidlike features on it's hair. And it stayed like that for enough time to make Evilfies reach to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
His hands to his sides as he begun to approach the wax sculpture with a frown.
"Do not tell me you got stuck inside the wax again" His voice came out flat and tired as he stared into the statues glasses with pursed lips. A regular interruption is already annoying enough as it is, but one in the middle of a repair?
Does the creature in front of him lack the manners to announce and ask before dropping by?
"Pshh, no, what makes you think that?" The voice echoed through the entire space, light and sheepish with a familiar hint of amusement. Evilfies didn't dignify the creature with a response instead staring blankly at the statue for a second too long. Enough for the creature to grow restless. "Ugh, fine, so what if I did."
"Thought so." The scientist sounded tired while he slowly started searching for a heater that he kept nearby for these situations. It was far from the first time this strange creature decided to play his facility a visit and it would probably be far from the last.
His hands connected the heater and pointed it into the direction of the wax statue with a frown, making sure it was at it's max potency. The place was silent as the wax started melting slowly into a puddle. Each individual drop glistening under the sharp lights of the laboratory until finally there's nothing but a puddle in the middle of the floor. Evilfies hummed, turning off the heater and putting it underneath one of the nearby tables before facing the creature.
She had already started reforming herself into the same sculpture that had melted before. The wax dried slightly faster than the last time, becoming completely solid in a couple of minutes. Then slowly it started to peel off the silhouette of the glasses, falling into chunks that look like dried paint. The colors underneath the wax were vibrant as things started revealing themselves slowly. The first thing to appear was the faint pink tint of the glasses that changed to orange depending on the lighting.
Her hair was messy, small tentacles hiding inside of it and two big ones falling over her shoulders. She was wearing a lab coat that Evilfies knows she had drawn into her appearance before entering this server the same way she always insisted on doing. A small blue backpack on her shoulders that probably carried more of the ink that she used to make her stuff.
Her face broke into an ear splitting smile, one full of sharp teeth, one that coming from an entity who was born from chaos never meant good news. Her steps were light against the white floors as she skipped in the direction of the glass with curious eyes. Finally she settled on observing the clone inside of the regeneration chamber with something close to awe.
"I know this one. He's the one that inhabited the same universe as one of my incarnations, the one on unstable universe, is he not?" Her voice sounded excited at the notion, the trail of ink that she had left on the floor evaporating into thin air. One of her hands came to touch the cold glass of the chamber.
For a second, Evilfies stayed silent. Contemplating whether answering the question or dismissing it with a frown. The hesitation came mostly because giving an omnipresent being created of pure chaos any kind of information could prove to be counterproductive later down the line.
"Indeed, that is correct." Finally, he relented with a serious expression. One of his hands used the corner of his lab coat to clean his glasses in silence before setting them on his face and turning to look at the entity. She was rummaging around the facility with that same easy smile on her face. "Is there a purpose for your sudden visit Chaos's creation Squiddo?"
"Direct to the point as always Evilfies. Ah I suppose you could say so." The girl took out a small brush, dipping it into the orange ink that she carried around and using it to draw a line over the top of her head. The ink solidified and fell, leaving behind a small headband that kept the girl's waxy hair from falling into her eyes.
A small show of power or maybe a reminder of the type of creature that the scientist was dealing with.
"I wish to create a clone." Her voice was devoid of any hesitation, speaking as if it was a simple fact and not a loaded statement. The glasses on her face turning a slightly more vibrant shade rather ominously while she stared around the facility with pursed lips. It was impossible to determine the expression on her face.
One of her hands passed through the notes on a nearby table, the letters moving under her fingers until the notes became a mess of complete nonsense that gave anyone who was brave enough to read them a headache.The scientist didn't even attempt to salvage them, knowing full well the girl would fix them before leaving instead he just looked confused at the request.
"Pardon? You wish to create a clone of yourself? Dodn't you prefer your puppets or how you called them… incarnations?" The scientist answered genuinely intrigued with a faint tilt of his head. The machinery above them rumbled and purred as it worked.
Machinery that should be enough to starts producing clones of the entity, if and only if the woman provided with a good deal on why exactly Evilfies should spend his resources on such project.
The entity let out a small joyous yet amused laugh at that, her hands swirling into the air almost mindlessly. It left the scientist even more confused while the man turned to check on the neraby panels, waiting for the girl to start talking.
"No silly, I wish to create one of your clones." Her eyes shine full of mirth as she reveals that information to the scientist in front of her. And suddenly it occurs to Evilfies that having this conversation while this particular curious clone was on stasis is a horrid idea.
Especially since 1108 or now called 5718 had very good memory retention while on stasis which was probably not good for their plans. And while the scientist can admit that he's curious on why exactly this entity wishes to acquire a Wifies clone, he can also recognize that talking about it where this clone could hear and ruin their plans was not a good idea.
The clone hated the facility even before he had returned with it's body in pieces. It had suffered from countless burns and completely despises the existence of any of the clones with burning fervor ever since it tasted freedom. Evilfies didn't wish to keep it here while discussing with the entity about the creation of yet another clone. In fact, he didn't want the clone to know about the existence of this entity.
He had no energy to deal with it's tantrums today.
Especially since the first time it had archived freedom, it had destroyed half of the facility and almost killed him.
"We'll discuss this later." Evilfies made the mistake of answering to the girl standing behind him. If there's one thing that you must know about how to deal with chaos creatures, is that you don't make them wait without regretting it moments later.
That's just how the entropy that runs in their veins works.
So when Evilfies watched the girl pout before floating right next to a nearby tube that fed the regeneration chamber, he didn't even look surprised. A hand passing over his face while he stared at the hand that is slowly letting drops of that strange wax fall inside of the machine with a smile on her face.
The substance glistened before mixing with the purple liquid from inside of it creating a degrade that looked a lot like a sunset. It doesn't seem to contaminate the liquid any longer since it slowly starts sinking into the metallic scanners just at the bottom of the machine before disappearing completely. The scientist started pulling chart after charts, running diagnostic after diagnostic, trying to determine just what exactly the entity did to the machine in front of him.
Finally, he found it. A small bubble seemed to have wrapped the whole chamber and forced time around that spot to pass by faster than usual. This way the clone's healing would be finished in a couple of seconds instead of the twenty four hours that are expected.
This does also mean that he has to convince the clone to go through a complete biologic scan before leaving. Which meant that he'd have to contain the clone inside of this part of the laboratory without it destroying anything of substance. His hands started searching on the pile of clothes that was discarded to the side, searching for something.
"Is the concept of waiting unfamiliar to you?" The scientists annoyed voice sounds from where he's kneeling on the side. Finally, he finds it. A small earring with an old small green feather as a charm. Something dear enough that the clone would probably obey just enough to finish the testing.
"Oh I can wait just fine. You had a problem I fixed it, did I not? No need to get so stingy" The entity replied from where she's standing with a small smile on her face. Evilfies slowly started walking back in the direction of the chamber with a frown, the earring secure on his pocket before he turned to look at the entity.
She was translucent now, the colors bleeding out of her body. Her hair floating on the wind giving her the appearance of being frozen in time. It was clear now that she was actually invisible to anyone that wasn't Evilfies which was a relief really. The less he had to explain to the rebellious clone, the better.
"I suppose so." Evilfies finally relented, eyes focused on the panels in front of him.
His hands flew through the keyboard, starting procedure after procedure. A few moments later, the regenerative liquid started draining slowly, leaving only the naked clone leaning against the door with it's eyes closed. Then came a small shock to wake up the unconscious clone and finally unlocking the door so the clone could open it from the inside.
It took a couple of seconds as the clone stretched and yawned, finally it opened it's eyes. Completely black void eyes staring around the chamber with a disgusted frown, its hands coming to cover up at its naked body with a huff of embarrassment maybe.
It was not happy to be here.
It was never happy to wake up here.
The only time it had willingly traveled from the cloning room into the main office had been a long time ago. A black hoodie covering the side of it's face as it begged for another chance on the server where it had died. A place that had destroyed its body so completely that it almost got turned into spare parts. And Evilfies had obviously denied honestly baseless petition, no matter how much it tried bargaining with him.
There was no way he was going to let the best source of entertainment out of all the clones to die due to it's own foolishness.
"Why am I back here?" It demands stepping through the glass doors with a frown on its face. One of its hands already reaching for a nearby towel to cover its naked body and get rid of the liquid.
The clone's hands were trembling as it shivers underneath the sterile lights— exhibiting the usual signs of stress that appeared every time it approached the facility without fail. It's ears were pinned to the side of it's head and yet its expression remains completely serene, an effort to not show weakness.
"If you must know, you collapsed." Evilfies hummed reaching for the pile of clean clothes on the side of the table with a frown before giving them to the clone. They were different from the ones the clone had been using before arriving here, standard ones that every cloned used.
It took the clothes slightly too aggressive before starting to change as quickly as possible, probably looking to leave the place. The earring is still tucked on his clothes yet it seems as if the clone is too focused on trying to exit the facility to notice. It happened quite often as the white walls were sometimes enough to scatter the clone's brain almost completely. Then it would realize that it had left the erring behind and run back inside of the facility with desperate steps.
Such an strange and faulty individual.
His dog ears were tense above its head with each step it takes, face molded in a facade of faux calm that would have fooled everyone else. It clearly believed that Evilfies will let it go like he always did. Unluckily for the clone, the scientist had to run a couple of tests to determine whether the strange ink will leave any permanent damage on the clone's tissue. And that meant there was no way that the clone was leaving the place.
"Ah I'm afraid not." Evilfies hummed, a hand searching for the button on the back of the table with familiar ease. Finally he felt it, the rough texture of stone as he slowly pressed it. The contingency plan activated almost immediately. A strong whirring sound of the doors reaching the floor.
A complete lockdown, one that has the clone looking almost feral.
"Are you keeping me here? don't you remember what happened last time?" The clone's voice is shaky while it turns to face at it's creator with pure unadulterated hatred on it's eyes. It would probably be a pretty convincing threat if not for the fear that still bled into its expression.
Times like this made the clone act almost as if was a scared animal instead of an intelligent clone.
"Do keep calm, it is not my intention to keep you trapped much longer. You'll return once you tire yourself anyway, so there's no point on it." The scientist tone is full of annoyance while he tried to ignore the entity that floated around the place with an amused smile on her face. She was distracting in the worst way possible, messing with machines that Evilfies will surely have to repair another day. "I need to run a few diagnostic tests regarding magic and your internal tissue. So please, hop onto the machine 5718 and stop wasting everyone's time."
The clone narrowed its eyes confused before refusing, a defiant frown on its face while it stayed standing near the exit. That demeanor changed almost immediately after the scientists showed the earring to the clone since it started walking in the direction of the machine with a frown on its face. Muttering all of the way into the decontamination chamber of the main scanner.
It didn't seem to enjoy staying inside of the machines.
"Why are you calling me that? it's not even my code name. It's 1108 not 5718, have you gone senile? Also, I was just in the regenerative chamber so there's no reason for testing. Are you stalling?" The clone throws an skeptical glance to the scientist outside. Of course it had entered the machine to determine the situation it was in. It was expected for a thing with its intelligence.
Luckily the barricade of questions also kept the clone occupied enough to start all of the tests with little to no complaints.
"You requested I make that change on your sleep, it's your new designation. And no, 5718, I'm not stalling. An incident occurred inside of the regeneration chamber, as a result I need to do some tests. Do not make this more difficult than it already is." the scientist started responding every single question hands operating the machine with a concentrated frown. It collected a small sample of the clone's blood and registered it into the system.
Directing the vial to the correct scanner and operating the complete holographic scanners while answering questions proves to be challenging to say the least. And the entities commentary on the background did little to help the situation. As a result, all of the exams took slightly longer.
A predictable inconvenience yet an inconvenience nonetheless.
"What incident?" The clone asked mildly alarmed, its hands coming to scratch at it's own arms in a quiet unconscious gesture of nervousness. The first display of nervousness that the scientist found completely justified.
Those machines held enough protocols to dissolve the bodies of the clones if presented with a single error or contamination. That's exactly why Evilfies always made sure to thoroughly wash the unconscious clones bodies before leaving them inside of the chamber with a lot or monitoring. Luckily, the chamber had interacte well with Squiddo's magic so that hadn't been that big of a problem.
"One that will hopefully not repeat itself any time soon." The scientist's eyes turned to look at where the entity was standing before settling back to the clone's body. A silent warning that rarely works against creatures like that one.
The silence afterwards was heavy, filled just with the faint humming of the scanners nearby and the shallow breathing of the clone inside of that enclosed space. The scientist couldn't determine if the ragged breaths were due to anxiety or a prevalent health issue from drowning too much— it would come up in the scans.
It was odd.
The clone looked different. The small black necklace with the Leviathan's symbol that hanged loosely from his neck was clutched tightly in between the clone's fingers. A silent prayer for strength, or a habit born from fear. A gesture that the clone had done even while deliriously calling for someone with the name of hummer, a gesture that prevailed now and seemed to be completely unconscious.
The kind of hope and softness that just couldn't be faked.
He had known of the clone's adventures searching for a god that it didn't believe on.
For a single moment, Evilfies wondered when the investigation towards a religion that the clone deemed false became true belief in whatever creature it was hunting. A feeling that Evilfies was sure it couldn't be produced by any of his clones. It seemed like once more 5718 had to prove to be the exception.
He had expected to salvage the same cynic clone with hard eyes and a face full of regret for it's past actions.
He hadn't expected the clone to find closure inside something as feeble as religion nor had he expected that friend of its to soften it and make it look almost at peace.
Strange, very strange indeed.
Hopefully he is able to recover the memories from those hours, maybe that would explain the sudden interest.
Yeah, that could be fruitful.
"Why are you answering my questions?" Its voice sounded shaky from inside of the chamber, hands still holding the leviathan symbol in a bruising grip. A look from the scientist was enough determine the cause of that vulnerability. The clone looked like a caged animal inside of the scanner.
Huh, it seemed claustrophobic.
A fear that Evilfies hadn't accounted for because last time the clone had been inside this place, 5718 hadn't been claustrophobic at all. That meant the results would be slightly altered from the stress, something that could be fixed by comparing the results with the ones of the fear response investigation that he had made a couple of days ago.
"If answering a couple of questions is the price for your cooperation during all of the tests, then I consider that a good enough deal, 5718." The scientist answered calmly, watching as the clone looked around the chamber with wide eyes. Apparently it hadn't crossed it's mind the fact that all of the exams where already done.
It took a couple of minutes for the results to arrive on screen.
The holographic screens illuminating the place with symbols as they started changing slowly into actual readable results. They are divided in a couple of parts: Blood work, overall tissue analysis, xrays and magic fluctuations. Everything seemed normal except one of the tests which was certainly odd and not completely unexpected.
Strange fluctuations on the basic magic composition of the clone's body, something that connected it to something much much deeper, something that Evilfies couldn't quite see or determine. A hand comes to signal to the entity on his side beckoning the chaotic girl to take a look to the charts. She looked pleased with the task since she immediately floated over the scanners with a calm smile.
The entity looked shocked for a second before her eyes softened slightly, there's a mix of recognition an pure awe on her face as she stared inside. Her hands slowly entered the scan chamber, touching the back of the clone's chest gently. The clone shivered at the touch looking spooked at the strange sensation.
Right, Evilfies had forgotten just how gentle the girl was with the clones.
For an entity full of chaos, she seemed to care for the clones the same way she cared for her own puppets.
She seemed happy about the results that her magic had revealed, almost proud.
"Do enlighten me on this if you would be so kind." Evilfies voice was flat while he stared directly into the girl's eyes. His hands already entering the results of the exams inside of the database with a bored expression.
"Who are you talking to?" The clone's eyes flickered through the entire room almost paranoid, not being able to see the strange entity floating around the machinery. One of his ears dropped to the side in a clear show of curiosity.
"Someone that hopefully you won't have the opportunity to meet." The scientist replies with a calm almost tired voice, knowing full well that this clone had met at least one of the incarnations from the entity that was now playing around the place.
5718 was one of the only clones that didn't know of the existence of this particular entity and that was part of the plan.
It would counterproductive if it were to learn that that friend of its was also a creation and not an organic player like it believed.
The Squiddos weren't clones, they were different.
The intricacies of their designs wasn't in the mechanical engineering of their bodies. No, they were created from a storyline. Design after design with each having its own intricate backstory and memories. They weren't bots like the ones inside of these buildings.
They were pieces of the ink that made this entity and that the entity loved.
"Rude! Now I'm not telling you nothing." The woman actually pouted, her arms hanging limply from the side of the machine. Half of her body is inside of the glass while the other half hangs outside like a doll.
An annoyed sigh fell from the scientist's lips while the man tried to focus on the abnormal readings of the papers in front of him. They had already entered like second priority since there probably wasn't anything alarming on them judging by the entities reaction.
"Then I shall not help you." At that response— the girl lets out a weary sigh before reclaiming a more corporeal form and settling on the ground in front of the clone, completely visible. Her mouth full of sharp teeth curled into an almost unhinged smile that had 5718 recoiling into a corner of the room.
The poor clone's eyes are so wide that Evilfies feared they are going to fall out of their designated sockets. They moved fearfully between the results on Evilfies hands to the clipboard that the entity had summoned on her arms.
"Squiddo?"The clone mouths likely confusing the entity with one of her puppets or as she calls them "incarnations" that roam around different worlds with easy smiles. For a second, those eyes turned to look at Evilfies with hatred.
Interesting, so one of the puppets of this entity is good friends with this particular clone.
Friends enough for it to actually consider protecting her.
It goes inside of his notes as an observation.
- "Clone 5718, formerly 1108, shows a deep attachment to one of the puppets of Miss Chaos Squiddo (who is also called Evil Squiddo or Squevil). Enough for it to get protective over the notion of Evilfies harming her. Possible source of future vulnerability. Get more information on it."
The entity clicked her tongue in annoyance at the entry.
Clearly unhappy with Evilfies tendency to use blackmail towards the clones. Or maybe unhappy with the possibility of one of her puppets getting harmed by the scientist.
"Eh not really, you've met my girls I assume? They are lovely little things" And maybe it's the dehumanizing language that entity uses but it's enough to convince the clone that she's not the same as whatever puppet he had met in the past.
The clones face fell in a way that made the woman frown with confusion.
"So the both of us are just clones?" 5718 says with a bitter laugh, it's hands reaching to grasp at the necklace once more. It's shaking with protective anger and something akin to grief. It was one of the reasons why Evilfies didn't wish to introduce Evil Squiddo.
This particular clone didn't process the news of artificial life very well.
"Not quite, they are puppets, you are a clone. It's quite a big difference 5718." Evilfies clarified, letting the silence stretch after that only to be interrupted by a few ragged breaths from the clone still inside of the machine and a faint humming coming from the entity on his side.
The scanners hum softly underneath the white blinding lights of the facility, green blueprints with holograms detailing each part of a clone's body. Everything seemed ordinary on those specific ones. The only fluctuation was present on the magic scans, almost as if there had been another source of magic near the clone to actually start changing the main core.
Unheard of.
"It's nothing to worry about Evilfies. It just appears that this particular clone has found someone powerful and dear enough to actually influence his magic core. The paint just enhanced that effect." The woman says swinging her clipboard with a bright cheerful smile on her face. The clone inside goes slightly red at the observation strangely enough.
It's a surprisingly straight to the point answer for a creature like Squiddo.
Inside of the results report there's a small note that appeared slowly in orange handwriting. One that had Evilfies humming with surprise and disbelief before staring at the clone in front of him.
- "Strong emotional connections such as love can cause alterations on the magic core. 5718's friend might not be as imaginary or invisible as you think."
For a second, the scientist stared at the impatient creature next to him before nodding.
One interesting enough to convince Evilfies to actually let the clone get out of it's containment.
His hands came to grab at the clone's ear, putting the earing in its place before stepping back. A complicated expression crossed clone's face at the gesture as the sound of machinery activating echoes through the entire place. The metal that had held the clone captive retreating inside of the inner mechanisms of the door. It was an open invitation for the clone to leave, to run outside the same way it always did.
"Go then 5718, we'll see each other soon enough." Evilfies didn't turn to look at the clone, his steps echoing through the space while he slowly walked in the direction of the designing station. Starting the proccess of getting everything ready for whatever project the entity wanted him to participate in.
The clone didn't move.
Its mouth opened and closing like a fish out of water while it stood in the middle of the white walls with shaky hands. The expression on its face was one of pure surprise, eyes fixated on the entity that was still sitting on the floor.
Finally, it talked.
"Do you control their personalities too?" The clone sounds fearful of that question like the answer might be enough to completely shatter it's hopes. The mere thought of it was enough to send it unraveling.
An irrational response really.
The entity's eyes flickered to look at the clone with an expression of gentle amusement on her face. Her hair floating behind her back while she slowly stood up. The white lights contrasted sharply with the vibrant colors of her body as she made her way to the desk where Evilfies was writing.
"No, of course not! They are themselves. It would make a really boring story otherwise don't you think?" The entity made a pause on their explanation before continuing with a shiny smile on her face. Her face was full of that adoration that she held for every single one of her creations. "I control their backstory, the conditions where they live, but I don't control their relationships."
The clone's ears seemed to relax slightly at the response. Something almost akin to respect crossing its features before it nodded solemnly. Its feet already carrying it to the nearest exit with that same determined expression of always.
"Hey, don't tell whatever incarnation you know of my existence. Most of them are unaware of it and it's better if you don't risk it." Squevil interrupted, making the clone stand still with its hand on the door. Every inch of playfulness replaced by a severe low tone as she stared at the clone with enough intensity to make it shiver.
The clone gave out a meek nod before opening the door and walking out of the factory. It would make its way through the observation halls before using the same exit it always did and then travel to the main server hub. It walks out of the facility the same way it always did, with it's head held high and utterly convinced that would be the last time it stepped foot inside of the white halls that he seemed to dislike so much.
Naive as always.
The silence after that extends for a second too long as the scientist opened all of the programs that he used to design the blueprints. The blue paper was extended across the table with notes and some reports. Scientific data for the body and Psychological data that was often retrieved by Squevil. The computer was cold to the touch while he slowly searcheed for each individual piece of code inside of his database wondering on what exact product the entity wanted.
And judging by the lack of annoying pressure, the girl had most likely forgotten about her petition.
It was to be expected that something created from chaos had a small attention span.
It didn't make it any less annoying.
"You said you needed a clone?" The scientist reminded the entity. His hands already calibrating each machine with the precision of a well oiled machine. On a second computer he had the feed for each observation room to monitor the process of the latest clones.
The entity hummed excited before summoning a chair to sit right beside the scientist. Pulling the backpack into her lap as she slowly began searching inside of the abyss inside of that thing. It was more of a pocket dimension than an actual backpack.
"Oh right! I found this interesting universe about crime and thought it would be just perfect for one of my girls" The entity pulled up pile of papers out of the bag, letting them fall in the table to reveal very intricate drawings of a puppet that resembled her with some sort of retro detective clothing.
The year on the top was 1930 with detailed crime rates and roles on the sides of a paper called worldbuilding. The universe already existed of course which meant that the girl was looking to twitch the rules of reality enough to insert the characters into an already existing setting. It was not terribly out of character for her to do so. Sometimes she just enjoyed letting the characters develop without a clear script.
That of course answered absolutely nothing.
"Right, and what does that have to do with cloning?" Evilfies hummed already reaching for one of the drawings nearby. There's six different drawings in the middle of the page, some scrapped, others with small details about possible stories and backstories for the puppet she was designing.
Thousands of possible personalities, characters and details that had been mixed in an effort to create the perfect character and storyline for this particular puppet.
"Oh, you see. Nothing quite fitted this girl right. She felt incomplete no matter what I did" The chaotic entity looked almost saddened by the idea like she couldn't bear the thought of her creations feeling incomplete. They could suffer but never feel incomplete. It was that same gentleness that lead her to be very loved among the clones of these facility. "She needs a twin, someone to balance her."
It was clear then what the project was.
Squevil could just grab a pre-existing player, take away it's memories and convince them to be the puppet's twin— but knowing her, she probably wouldn't do so. That would mean forcing the story and that was something that she found cruel and despised with all of her might.
"You wish for me to make her a twin?" Evilfies voice sounds bored as he stares at the entity next to him. His hands stopping their motions before reaching to take the final design of the entities new puppet.
The puppet's personality looked to be energetic, far too energetic and naive for a place where she was expected to be a detective. That meant that the standard personality of a Wifies clone could indeed balance her out. Cynicism and optimism, skepticism and the belief that everyone was innocent until proven otherwise. He could see how this could benefit the entity yet not how it would benefit him.
He received nothing from creating a sibling to this puppet.
"Well it has to be artificial, I can't just brainwash an inhabitant of that world to give her a twin." The girl said calmly, confirming what Evilfies already suspected. There's a sudden pause that he knows is for dramatic effect. So that whatever she's going to offer lands a little bit better in the silent room. "Besides have you ever wondered on what kind of hybridity a mix between my incarnations and your clones could create?"
That question has Evilfies pen stopping.
In truth, Squiddo's ability to breathe life into things with just the usage of her ink had always been a topic of interest for the scientist. One that he hadn't been able to crack even after years of working alongside her. This was the golden opportunity to analyze just how exactly it worked. He would have to study the ink proprieties and how it was capable of making both inanimate and animate objects.
Now he could actually work with it to create two characters that had to be a hybrid of the magic of the paint and the mechanical bioengineering that created the clones. Essentially mix two very incompatible forms of creation. The twins had to share enough DNA for the code to pass them off as fraternal twins, not identical ones but twins nonetheless.
They didn't have to be created since babies but had to share the same qualities that defined twins. A problem that couldn't be solved by implanting faux memories since their relationship had to feel genuine enough to force the characters to believe they were twins. That meant forcing and controlling an environment enough to allow a genuine sibling connection to form while trying to maintain the mixes of code complete.
It would be challenging. They will have to balance just the right amount of ink and biological components while stopping the hybridity from creating anomalous creatures. All of the clones shared small dog like traits while all of the puppets shared either squidlike hybrid traits or mothlike traits. That made these particular creations a pair of double hybrids.
Then these creatures would have to go into an enclosure with minimal to no interference from their part which meant the environment had to be perfect enough to create a pair of functional twins.
It was impossible.
The margin of error was so small in these types of projects.
It would be the most interesting one that Evilfies will have the opportunity to participate on.
"How many years to finish this pair of twins?" The scientist pretending to be considering the offer while already grabbing the design of the girl and scanning it into the database to start working on it.
- Project double hybridity.
- Age of the twins at creation: 13 years old at a maximum. Old enough so they can be self sufficient and yet young enough to be able to mold one another through interaction. Preadolescence is the perfect stage of development.
The starter notes were vague as more details would have to be discussed with the entity that had started this project. They shone in a holographic screen next to the detailed scans of the blueprints the girl had provided with one of the twins personality already detailed.
"Two years, with my ability to accelerate time I think it's plausible." The entity replied with that same cheery smile on her face before facing the scientist almost amused. As if she hadn't proposed the craziest project that had ever occurred inside of this facility. "You up for the challenge?"
Two years to create a pair of twins whose DNA was divided on four— 25% clone, 25% puppet, 25% dog and 25% whatever hybridity the entity decided to insert into the mix. Two years to create the perfect environment to make sure to raise these twins since teenage-hood with just the right amount of intervention, faux memory insertion and time acceleration.
It would be the first time Evilfies creates a clone with the objective of archiving humanity and an actual functional sibling relation. It would be the first time one of his clones is created to exit the controlled environment of the laboratory where it was raised. The clone had to develop an actual personality apart from it's supposed twin while maintaining that relationship as an important trait of it's life.
They won't go into an observation room, they will have to go into a simulated place from the backstory that Chaos Squiddo designed. The goal was the opposite of predictability, the goal was a genuine unpredictable human not even a clone.
The goal was for it to end with the same imperfections of 5718.
The goal was for it to be so human it wouldn't be able to know about the existence of this facility or its creation.
"Deposit one of your vials of ink into the magic scanner." Evilfies hands were already moving through the keyboard in a thousand of different code combinations and DNA calculations. Numbers of biological data flashing through the holographic screen.
The entity gave him a small satisfied smile before obeying, one that looked a little too much like gratefulness. The conveyor belt clicked and shuddered as it slowly started processing all of the information inside of the vials. It was quick and efficient enough so that they would be able to start analyzing how to mix it with biological DNA by the end of the day.
Worst case scenario, this doesn't work and the project gets discarded.
But Evilfies thinks it might be worth a try.