How I Helped Destroy the World…

A Story by Mary

a short story for school...

“I saw the future. In twenty maybe thirty years from now our world as we know it will be gone. It’s all because of me…the death…the war…the evil. All because I wanted to be known…because I wanted my dream to be fulfilled. If only someone had stopped me…”

-Jillian Xenon, 2021, File 531the only file not destroyed in the fire.

Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a scientist. It seemed as though it was destined, like someone paved a path for me to walk on. I never had a problem with school or getting accepted to MIT, or even being noticed by the people that could make my career. Somehow I found my way into the genetics department in the federal government by age 19. I could hear people whisper my name as I walked through the hallways, “Zara Kaligoria” they would say with wide eyes knowing my record, knowing I was becoming a legend.

Somehow I hadn’t really noticed all the attention at first, but after I was invited to join an elite team of undercover scientists is when people really got interested. It was very unusual to say the least, considering I had just got out of college and had no real record besides my test scores. I had no idea why they chose me, but I was so happy they did.

On May 19, 2040 my first day in my new job began. All I knew was that the job was focusing on new methods of cloning, since it was tiresome to clone the specimen and wait for it to mature. I knew of course though that it would be some animal, possibly cows since they had become the most popular business once animal cloning was legalized in the 2020’s.

That was when the world had changed, or so I’m told since I hadn’t been born yet. All I have ever known is the ongoing battle with the other countries. Ever since world famous Jillian Xenon perfected cloning and broke through the barriers of law to fulfill her dream. The cloning market and the secret to cloning has been in the United States’ hands ever since.

The war is not bad enough to affect our lives; we have become the supreme power since we united with China 15 years ago. Sometimes I even forget there is a war, though that is probably because I have scarcely left my hometown my whole life, I feel safe with the government patrols on every street corner.

As soon as I stepped into the giant building I would now be working in I was in awe. The lab took my breath away; it was a true haven for a scientist like me. It had state of the ark equipment and some technology that I had never seen before; I even had my own office. I knew that I would be happy there, and I knew that in a lab such as this I would make the discovering I had always yearned to make.

If only I had known then that simple cow cloning was not on the agenda. No, cows were not going to be what made my career. In fact for months I was being fed false information, my fellow scientists were just pawns in a greater plan. I was being tested and giving my trust to the untrustworthy.

On December 16, it had been about 7 months since I first started my cloning research. It was also the day I went to far. I had already revolutionized the way we cloned animals and I was hungry for more. I was at a lost on what to do next, I knew that discoveries were always waiting to be found, but I couldn’t see the next logical step in animal cloning. It had all been done. So I sat there in my silver desk chair looking outside at the view of my 70 story window. All I could see was the polluted gray sky and the ever busy circuit of cars going at least 300 miles per hour on the digital highways; I felt an ache in my chest that I knew to be loneliness.

Looking at my reflection on the see through wall, I craved someone to share my discoveries with, but not a soul came to mind. Then a ridiculous thought popped in my head, not for the first time though. “How about I make another me.” Then I quickly scolded myself, knowing such a thing was illegal and not of my abilities. But I couldn’t shake the curiosity, “Could I do it?” I thought.

In the end I couldn’t help myself, I longed to create a perfect equal, a sister I never had. So I got to work, I made all my files blocked and wouldn’t let anyone enter my own personal lab; I made sure no one knew what I was attempting.

The actual cloning part was easy, the same as any animal. But the tricky part was getting a custom made incubator and the right combination of growth compound so I didn’t hurt the fragile human tissue. I thought it was easy, and that worried me. I thought if cloning a human was that easy then why weren’t clones walking around today. My question was soon answered.

My first attempt failed. After a month she died. I realized that I was missing something, some sort of substance to keep the subject from dying before it became full term. This problem alone took me five months to fix, after that I tried again and again, I became completely obsessed.

This I felt was the achievement I was looking for, what would immortalize my name forever. Finally after a year of trial and error, I had success, I had cloned myself. I named my creation Lara only changing the first letter of my name.

She gained conciseness after only two months, and looked to be about eighteen. I taught her everything, to walk, talk, read and write. Instead of a sister I became her mother. For some time she lived in my lab, but after she almost got discovered one day I knew I had to move her.

To bad I never made it out the front door, they were just waiting on me. Like they knew my plan before I even did, which they might have since they had been watching me this whole time.

“Put her in storage.” said my boss Mr. Smith gesturing to Lara, he was surrounded by many men wearing black uniforms.

“No don’t touch her!” I shouted my instinctive protectiveness for Lara overiding the fear that had taken hold of me.

“Now Miss Zara,” he said turning toward me. “You have served us well, unlike your predecessor. She destroyed all of her findings once she realized what we were planning, well except of course for you. She couldn’t destroy herself, so we just had to wait twenty years for Jillian to be reborn. And let me just say it has been a pleasure working with you…take her away and search her lab I want every last file!” he shouted and the men scattered.

The only thought I had before I was drug off to a deep freeze chamber was, “I’m a clone?” The rest of my thoughts were put on permanent hold as Jillian’s predictions were put into motion. We had both help destroy the world. I guess you really can’t change genetics.