Liam had woken up with a view of a plain white ceiling and the stench of strong disinfectant in the air. There was a lingering scent which had been sure belonged to someone who had once been close to him.
I am Liamâ¦.Iâm still alive. I amâ¦.on Belphus. Ca..Carissa.
He opened his eyes once but the soft light was odd on his eyes, there was the faint sound of machinery around him but otherwise it was relative silence.
Even the machines pulsate in rhythm. In a style to help heal a broken human body. How refreshing, how much did it cost to build a functional version of this? Tens of millions?
He could tell this was a specific room build for a purposeful design from a single glance. Liam closed his eyes once more. There was a scratch in his mind for the briefest of seconds, a glimpse which he couldnât quite recall.
The smell. What is the smell? Someone I loved once. Someone I lost?
His mouth was dry but his head didnât hurt. The pillows and sheets beneath his head was as soft as could be. He didnât want to re-open his eyes yet, this was a peaceful place designed for a body to recover and he had done so much and had even more to do.
Liam was a hard worker, far more than most envisaged when they first met him. The image of the spoilt old money boy was a joke, he put in the same insane hours Carissa had but usually on different projects.
In truth, he was far better with people than she ever was. Granted she had been born on a house boat, home educated by her parents and their friends and not formed any strong relationships until her teenage years until she had met him.
Carissa. I understand why you did what you did. You had a dream and you followed it. Beautiful, in so many ways. I need my own dream so we can be together.
He was tired. He was aware on a baseline level this was a threat. This wasnât an attack on his person. The individual had even been considerate enough to send him a single message which had burned itself into his mind. A few loosely connected words. Barely even a threat but a warning nonetheless, his induced unconsciousness was proof of it.
Stay back. Danger.
There were other smells and the crisp air was flavoured, he certain of it. Mint or something else which was custom tailored to his own memories. There was a shift in his mind and he opened his eyes to a ceiling had changed to become a pure blue sky with clouds.
A wander window. How expensive. A reflection of a place on Belphus at this precise point in time but in an unspoilt natural area. The cost...wait. Dad.
He breathed in and the sensation brought back memories when he had been younger of his father before he had died. A kind man with a bright smile and who was always willing to drop his work, cancel meetings or even ignore some of the titans of industry and World Government politicians to spend time with his eldest son.
When they had time together his father had grown a miniature herb garden in various pots carefully taken care of in his private office in the vast estate they owned. A kind of mint-style plant had been one of his favourites. The leaves held a mild spicy taste on the edge of the tongue. He missed his father, having lost him at seventeen years old.
Sometimes it still emotionally hurt, especially when he had bad days like this one. Meeting up and losing her again. The fate of his father was a strange affair, a disappearance but with zero traces.
All he had been told by his mother had been extremely minimal at seventeen years old and even when he had become an official adult and gained his significant inheritance which included enough shares in major Belphus corporations to be a minority shareholder his father had been lost on the ocean.
Not died. He hadnât been a sailor and this had been a trip where his father had been investigating something on his own with a small select team. Liamâs mother, uncles and aunts had all dissuaded him from investigating further, telling him he would find nothing and he should be happy with his position and status as one of the elite of Belphus.
And as for how he had met Carissa in the first place, he had elected to study oceanography at least for a year to develop a company which could attempt to commercialise and improve the pollution levels of the ocean of Belphus.
My body aches. My head doesnât though. Mainly my arms. Carissa. I need to get up and find Carissa. They should have analysed her home...her Last Refuge. She would have left traces behind. I can find her. Maybe...even join her if her research notes give enough detail. I will find you Carissa. I promise.
An electronic beeping noise and a fixed light above his head began flashing as his full consciousness developed. His brain upon awakening from the short-term coma he had been in was clearing up from the fog which had been confusing him.
In truth he wasnât quite clear if was still operating in reality or his mind had remained trapped inside the forced coma. He had no memories, no nightmares or strange dreams of different worlds.
A soothing female voice called out from the beeping noise above his head, a relaxing, gentle voices which was Jaja Swag who had been paid a ridiculous sum of money for her permission to use her voice in medical emergencies.
Liam accepted money, social status and influence could create a more than comfortable life but the voice of Jaja Swag used as a basic medical monitoring tool was a completely unnecessary expense.
He only hoped it was her templated voice and there wasnât a genuine digital copy of her consciousness trapped inside the machine. His mother had been one of the largest direct investors in the CAMPIN Corporation before immoral sciencific practices and projects had been disclosed.
He wouldnât put it past her to trap a digital copy of a singer and performer inside her own virtual reality reality room to give him something to wake up to. She would have done it, some of the rules of the World Government didnât apply in her case in her view.
I should be thankful she never copied Carissa. No replacement for true love. Only endless pursuit.
Liam didnât hate his mother, she had never been bad to him or abandoned him but there had always been a sharp edge to her. She wanted profit and success and growth, even using the Uni-Clone services after his father had vanished had been part of her plan.
At least she hadnât done the worst and attempted to make a clone copy of her husband. She had strict boundaries. The smooth voice of Jaja Swag called out again, this time she had become more formal like a nurse calling out the name of her patients.
The voice wasnât unpleasant to his ears, if anything it would be nearly impossible to dislike it. The woman had an innate talent for singing or performing content which was popular with a vast audience.
She was either blessed with natural talent, enhanced or had a patron of the arts who had chosen to support her career but she was soothing and relaxing even talking as an electronic copy of a nurse.
Liam ignored the voice. He needed to regain his health, go through a standard health check and do something. Anything with regards to Carissa. In hindsight he could have pushed his way through the door, hugged her and apologised.
Iâm tired. But what happened to herâ¦.I need footage. I need answers.
He wanted to live with her, to die with her, to simply be with her and listen to her genius and her sorrows and her pain. And all he had done was to give her the space she demanded when she had told him she hated him and wanted her own time.
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And she was gone. He had married her when he was only twenty and she was eighteen and she as gone, and he hated his own weakness. She had always been a self-harmer yes but not to the extent of massive surgery on her own body.
The scars. Barely healed entirely.
A release of air and a sterile seal to the room was broken as a figure dressed in pristine light blue clothing with a badge entered the room. They were wearing a transparent face mask and gave a smile as they approached and stopped about a metre from his bed.
Liamâs vision turned grey. He assumed it was his mental reaction to his body to being in an artificial coma. There was a lone figure standing by the entrance to his medical suit whom made no signs of movement.
He managed to nod his head but pushing himself to sit up was beyond him for now. It was as though his body had been restricted or time decelerated.
The process of recovering from being knocked unconscious had taken more out out of him than physical discomfort. His eyes showed him only a shade of greys not colour.
Odd. Did the room change colour or is this a side effect?
There was a shift in the air and Liam was enclosed in a shimmering, close to transparent blue field of energy.
A male voice spoke, young but unfamiliar. There was a professional tone in the voice of the figure but with a tinge of respect. Whether it was out of courtesy to him or his family name he didnât care. He recognised the value of power and influence.
â...Mr Liam. Iâm a member of your personal medical support team. Please remain rested. A protocol is in place. Enjoy the view until Iâm...prepared. Ronnie, he needs stability. Keep it regulated, the Drowned One is buying us time. No leakageâ. said the masculine voice.
He kept both his eyes open but continued to stare at the ceiling, the wander window had changed to an underwater view, colourful sea creatures and coral with an occasional predator popping into view.
Protocol and security. The two always go hand in hand. Wait...Drowned...what?
The effect was so close to reality Liam wanted to calculate exactly how much it cost to produce the instant reality imaging of somewhere on the planet. For the price he had paid Corvinius Defense Services he shouldnât have been surprised. A wander window should have been the least of the technology at their disposal for a valuable client like himself.
The voice spoke once more. Closer this time but the figure was standing in exactly the same position.
Before Liam could ask for a direct explanation the figure directly interrupted him blocking him from trying to speak. His throat and voice were odd, like he hadnât used them for a long time. The words he wanted to ask were struggling to come out of his mouth.
âMr Acqua. You are inside a private recover suite belonging to a special and secure space called the Deep Water Purification Facility. Or at least the best version of it our Veronica can build. Minor differences. All you need to do is blink twice or even close your eyes twice in succession if you can and our medical monitoring system will allow me to approach. They have...complex security measures in place. You can call me..Mark 1. I originated in Uni-Clone a lifetime ago. I need to talk and you need to rest. Please.â said the masculine voice.
Deep Water...build? A clone? No, they stopped..stopped it. The program failed.
Liam was weary of resting in medical bed despite of how comfortable he was. His body needed the absolute minimum of rest so he could be out of this place and fit for action.
He wanted a full record and analysis of every scrap of information, material and object removed and the entire building placed under private security control. His control.
The General hadnât finished his paid for services yet. And besides his own family was going to be turning up any second the moment they found out he had been put inside a recovery suite for a temporary coma.
He blinked his eyes and the figure stepped into the room as he walked through the shimmering blue field of energy surrounding the medical bed.
Liam spoke even though his throat was dry. His mouth had a little difficulty shaping the words as his brain fixed itself from his earlier forced shift in reality.
â...Yo-r..Youâre a clone. A Uni-Clone clone. Hah. Funny. Why does talking hurt? My family, are they here yet?â said Liam.
He turned his head as he lay in the bed and there was an older man with tanned skin wearing a transparent face mask and white nursing clothing.
Fifties and strong, heavy built and smiling with shiny white teeth. A typical clone, built to perfection by a company which prided themselves on projects.
Human cloning on Belphus was a highly specialised and complex service on offer. And there had been something about the name Mark 1 which his brain was fuzzy on. He had read reports but his brain simply wasnât connecting the dots yet.
The man with the transparent mask simply gave Liam a bright smile and began to check the variety of medical equipment and scanners attached to his body.
Liam ignored the work of the man as even talking had drained him sufficiently. Heâd need to give himself a moment to get some more energy back.
The man standing next to him was a nurse, or as he said a member of his personal recovery support team. A worker. Nothing more.
Even if he had paid Corvinius Defense Services a pretty penny for their services, his own family had insisted on having him implanted with health and vital sign trackers.
They would have been keeping tab on his location. His mother had chosen to have more children when his father had left but never married. With the corporation of Uni-Clone she had little need to, they even offered enhanced growth programs to the elite for specific cases.
Liam had been an original, allowed to grow and learn naturally without all the extra genetic modification aside from the basic health package to ensure he was healthy, strong and had a higher resistance than normal.
His body had been cleaned and refitted into sterile patient clothing. The man in the sterile blue clothing had made a few changes to the controls of his medical bed so Liam was more comfortable.
Something had happened out of his control, he was experiencing a lot recently. From Carissa blaming him for turning her brilliant work in economic capital and social influence.
After the man from his personal recovery suite had finished making checking he moved to Liamâs bedside, helped him up with surprisingly gentle actions despite his obvious physical strength.
âThere we go. Youâll going to be comfortable for a second and...you deserve an answer. The situation is complex. One moment. Laci? Veronica? Is it holding steady?â said the man as he helped Liam sit up.
Trying to study the face of the man Liam began to recall an old news article his father had discussed with him before he had vanished. He had been sixteen and there had a been a great deal of discussion on Belphus about Uni-Clone breaking human rights and various ethical violations.
The Mark 1âs were meant to be clone servants. Designed for varying environments, all different, all unique but ultimately born to serve. Slaves in another word. Or indentured servants.
His father had argued with him about the need for not risking human lives in dangerous conditions, Liam had debated back with his own perspective of a sixteen year old.
The man in the transparent face mask stopped them and smiled again at Liam.
âRecognise me do you? Or at least my name. You can call me Mike. So to make this short, an Ocean God owes me a favour and he has some deep connections. And my dead friend was able to build a Construct Scenario which can exist for a short time in your world. Not CAMPIN tech. Donât worry. I have three words to say before you need to wake up. Carissa is alive. Oh, and good luck with building your foundation. I can tell itâs going to be amazing. Make some use of your social status and old money. Good luck Mr Acqua.â said the man as the immediate environment faded first into a darker shade of grey before absolute darkness.
Laci? Carissa had a teenage friend called Laci..but didnât she die more than a decade ago?
Someone had a hand on his body.
He woke up.