Alex (F) A clone with the memories of a dead man.

I slowly opened my eyes to a blurred and unfamiliar world. I felt cold yet light, as if I was floating on air. No, wait, not air, water. I was floating in some kind of reddish liquid, but how was I breathing? As if to answer my question, a few bubbles drifted past my eyes. I could feel something attached to my face. It almost felt like plastic but was a bit heavier. As I twisted my head, I felt a long tube brushing against my bare chest. This device must be how I’m able to breathe in…whatever this is, wherever this is.

It looked like I was about to find out where I was, for soon, I could hear the sound of the liquid draining. I could feel my body becoming heavier as I floated down, back first to some kind of table. I closed my eyes as the liquid slid down my face and my arms. Soon, I could hear the sound of hissing, followed by what I assumed was the door to my container sliding open, for the next thing I felt was the cool air over my wet body.

“Can you hear me?” came a voice from the blackness. I nodded my head slowly and stiffly. “Good.” The voice sounded like it was coming from an old man who had been smoking just a few too many cigars.

Next, I felt a firm hand grasping the mask on my face. He took a moment to unclip the straps from behind my ears, then carefully pulled the device from my mouth. It was as he was pulling it out that I discovered that I had a long tube inside of my throat, possibly extending to my lungs. Once the end of the tube passed my lips, I started hacking and coughing.

“Relax,” said the voice, “Try to breathe normally.”

I did as I was told, though not without some difficulty. It almost felt like I had never taken a breath on my own before. A few moments later, I felt the man wiping the goop off of my face, allowing me to open my eyes. There was a bright blinding light just above me, which made it difficult to see for a few seconds. Thankfully, the man moved the light so I could focus a little more on his face. He was a fair skinned man with thick white hair, a broad mustache, and a pair of thin rimmed glasses. He was holding some kind of red light and was shining it in my eyes for a few seconds before setting it down just out of my sight.

“Now, let’s try testing your memory,” he started, “First with your name.”

“A…Alex,” I choked out.

“Good, good. Let’s see if we can work those vocals a bit more. What is the last thing you remember?”

I struggled as I tried to think back, “I…I was listening to my parents arguing. Politics again. I couldn’t stand listening to them anymore, so I climbed out of my window and made my way to a friend's house.”

He rubbed his chin, “Hm…Yes, that was a problem back then, wasn’t it. Do you remember anything else? A bright light or an explosion?” I shook my head. The man sighed and rubbed his brow. “Another dead end. Either that part of your memory was lost, or you didn’t see it coming. On a positive note, especially for you, all your brain and vital functions are behaving normally. The first clone of your kind to survive.”

“Clone?” I groaned as I started to sit up, but…there was something different about my body. Something felt off.

The old man lightly pushed his hand on my shoulder. “Easy. You need to get used to the plumbing first. You may be a clone, but in mind only. We had to improvise with the body.”

“What…what do you mean?”

The man nodded to someone just out of my sight. “Vickie, could you bring the mirror, please.”

By now, I was oriented enough to where I could move my legs, so I shifted my body around and draped my feet over the side. I could hear the sound of wheels squeaking as something was wheeled in front of me. When I looked up, I was a little taken aback by what I saw. The last time I looked into a mirror, I distinctly remember looking at the face of a sickly young man with a pin shaped body and large round glasses. What I saw looking back at me was anything but sickly…or male.

I couldn’t help but blush at the beautiful nude woman staring back at me from behind the glass. She…I…had reddish brown skin, dark red hair, and yellow eyes. Poking out behind the wet red strands of my hair, I could see a pair of small pointed ears. Was I some kind of elf? I had a soft curved body with modest breasts, wide hips, long legs, and dark nipples.

“You are a drow,” said the man already sensing my question, “Technically, you are still human, give or take a few hundred years of evolution.”

“Why am I a woman?” I asked him, trying to cover my breasts. I couldn’t help but shiver as my slender fingers cupped my breasts. Is this what it feels like to be groped?

“For the same reason why you are a drow,” said the man, “Drows have a very simple DNA structure, so they are easier to clone. As to why you are a woman, everything is born female. They just require a certain chromosome to become male. We just didn’t bother giving you one. It would have put too much effort into an already tedious task.”

“What are you talking about?” I all but jerked my head towards the man, “Where am I? What happened to me?”

The man removed his glasses, rubbed his brow with his thumb and forefinger, and muttered something under his breath. He then let out a long sigh, set his glasses on his large nose, and looked at me with his deep gray eyes.

“How do I explain this? You were born here. The memories, they are not actually yours, they belong to someone…a man, I guess,” he chuckled. I personally didn’t find this too amusing. “The memories belong to someone who died over four thousand years ago. At this facility, we study ancient civilizations by cloning the individual and interrogating them about the age that they lived in. Unfortunately, cloning the brain in such a way that it remembers details of how they lived is a tedious process, so we decided to focus solely on rebuilding the brain and placing it inside of a host body, hence your current appearance.”

My eyes went wide after hearing this. “I…he…died…How?”

“That was what we were hoping to find out,” he said somberly, “The human race went extinct roughly four thousand years ago. Those that didn’t die out went underground and evolved into ether drow, elves, or dwarves. It’s also why we haven’t placed you in a human body.”

I rubbed my head, namely the dome where my brain was located, “So…do I have a drow body but a…”

The man smiled and shook his head. “No, we need to make sure that the brain was compatible. Hence why your human memories are so fuzzy. The brain is a complicated organ. I’m sure that over time your new memories will override the old, much like how an adult forgets his early childhood.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. On the one hand, it sounded like I was about to be replaced by whoever this clone is but at the same time, I was the clone and was just forgetting old memories. Did this clone even have memories? No, I…she…had just been born. Did this mean that these memories were also her memories…my memories…I was starting to feel dizzy. The man, probably sensing my confusion, placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a light shake.

“It’s probably best if you don’t think too much about your current situation. At least not until you center yourself.” He then stood up and made his way towards his desk, “Vickie, please clean Alex and find her some fresh clothes. Afterward, I’m sure she will want to find something to eat.”

“As you wish, Dr. Noah,” came a robotic voice from outside of my field of vision. I turned toward the voice and was a little surprised to see a robotic woman standing in front of me. She had light…skin, I guess, a very feminine face that looked like it was made from some kind of silicone, as did…select…parts of her body. She was wearing a form-fitting nurse's dress with a knee-high skirt a low cleavage line and thigh high heels.

I turned to the Doctor with a cocked brow. The man just rolled his eyes and shook his head before saying, “It was the company’s idea. Supposedly they are supposed to raise morale.”

“They are raising something,” I said dryly. There’s one thing I’m going to miss from my past life.